


coincidence or fate?

by efaeria



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Everyone's a demigod, Fluff, M/M, dangerous quests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24998374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/efaeria/pseuds/efaeria
Summary: “Run faster!”“I can’t go any faster than this!” Kenma huffed, willing his limbs to run even faster. He was not ready to become some…thing’smeal! He knew something felt weird! He should have listened to his dad… “I hate running!”He should probably apologize to his dad for taking things so lightly.“You have to run, or do you want to get eaten?”He looked ahead, not turning back as the creature behind them beckoned their attention. “Come back, little boy! We’ll have so much fun!”No thanks. I’m not that stupid.How did this happen again?Ah, right. It all started about four hours ago…Edited on December 27, 2020.Added endnotes!
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 56
Kudos: 106





	1. the calm before the storm (or is it?)

**Author's Note:**

> i've been working on this for weeks now and i'm so happy to share it with you, guys!  
> i didn't plan this to be a big thing, but uh obviously it didn't go according to plan? but i still hope you guys like it! 
> 
> p.s. a huge thank you to vityasgirl for being my beta i love you so much

**CHAPTER 1.**

“Run faster!”

“I can’t go any faster than this!” Kenma huffed, willing his limbs to run even faster. He was not ready to become some… _thing’s_ meal! He knew something felt weird! He should have listened to his dad… “I hate running!”

He should probably apologize to his dad for taking things so lightly.

“You have to run, or do you want to get eaten?”

He looked ahead, not turning back as the creature behind them beckoned their attention. “ ** _Come back, little boy! We’ll have so much fun!_** ” _No thanks. I’m not that stupid._

_How did this happen again?_

_Ah, right. It all started about four hours ago…_

  


* * *

  


**\- Eight Years Old -**

  


The start of his day couldn’t have been more normal. Just like every other day before it, Kenma woke up to the bright sunlight seeping through his curtains. He rose drearily and stared at his bare wall, still feeling drowsy.

He probably shouldn’t have stayed up playing games like the night before. Then again, he did get a ton of progress done.

“Kenma! Time for breakfast!” He already felt like he wanted to sleep in instead.

Despite his initial reluctance, he called out, “Okay, dad.”

He sluggishly made his way to the bathroom and as fast as he could, went through his morning routine. In the next ten minutes, Kenma was sitting in front of his father, chewing on his own piece of toast. “So, any plans today?”

Shrugging, he took a sip of his orange juice, “Probably just go hang out by myself somewhere.”

“Eh? I thought you and Kuroo-kun from next door were hitting it off pretty well! Why not go and ask him to play?”

He could, but he also could just spend a day in relative silence with his new game. If he wanted to understand anything, he was going to need to concentrate.

Still, Kenma nodded, “I might.”

Satisfied with his answer, his dad got up from his seat and took his plate, “Well, I’m off to work. You can handle things around here, Kenma?”

“Yes, dad.” His dad ruffled his hair, “Stay safe. If anything feels weird when you’re outside, just head straight home.”

“I know, dad. You tell me every time.”

He nodded, “Good. Don’t play too much of your game! You might hurt your eyes. Only use the cellphone I left for you for emergencies, alright? Emergencies!”

  
  


“Hot,” he muttered under his breath as he laid sprawled on the grass, staring at the river. It was so hot that he was actually considering throwing himself into the water. His long hair was sticking to his nape, and it was starting to get irritating.

It’s been three hours since he had been out of the house and his PSP died. Thankfully he had managed to save his progress before it shut down, but now he had been left with nothing to do.

He sighed and fidgeted around, “Now what?”  
It was too hot to walk back all the way home. _Like it’s not just a five-minute walk_ , he thought grimly. Call him lazy but he was being logical. That’s what he thought, at least.

“Oh yeah… Dad didn’t tell me what time he’d be home,” Kenma thought aloud. Oh well, it’s not like he can do anything about it.

No, wait. _He can._

He slipped his hand into his hoodie’s pocket and took out the cellphone his dad gave him for emergency use. Surely a call or a text couldn’t hurt?

_“Only use the cellphone I left for you for emergencies, alright? Emergencies!”_

Kenma shrugged and opened the phone. Despite not having used one before, Kenma managed to find the contact book and his dad’s number, dialing it. He waited for him to pick up. One, two, three rings…

**_“Hello, little boy.”_ **

Kenma felt the bright sun got blocked as a person loomed over him. He looked up from where he sat. The hulking, yet strangely slim, figure - _definitely not human_ \- gave him a sneer, “What are you doing?”

Kenma froze in shock.

His legs suddenly wouldn’t move and his body trembled in fear. The thing reared its head at him, showing him its sharp fangs and a knowing smirk, “Scared? Oh, don’t be! I just wanted to play with you, is all!”

Kenma obviously didn’t want anything to do with this thing.

The monster looked feminine, its body a slim built and her face, despite looking monstrous, possessed its own brand of beauty. Her eyes were glowing bright red. But, what caught Kenma’s attention was her limbs… one was a prosthetic leg and the other looked like some kind of fauna’s leg. A goat or a donkey’s? 

He didn’t know, and that’s what bothered him the most.

Kenma fought the urge to run and forced himself to remain calm. _Remember all the things you saw in video games. You’re smaller and you’re at an obvious disadvantage. Act normal - keep your poker face on!_

He shrugged indifferently and closed the phone in his hand, tucking it back into his hoodie’s pocket, “I’m tired, sorry. I don’t really like playing when it’s this hot.”

The thing looked amused, its nefarious smile widening, “Oh? Is that so? But I’m sure we’d have a good time playing hide-and-seek! Why not, eh?”

 _Hide-and-seek? With this… thing?_ Kenma inwardly shuddered. _No way._ But how the hell is he going to get away unscathed?

He coughed, “No thanks. I’m feeling kind of under the weather.”

“Sick?” The monster inched closer to him, “That won’t do now! Want me to hang out with you instead?”

 _No_ , Kenma thought grimly, _please go away._

But he knew that he couldn’t. Not like this, with no knowledge of what she could do and what he could do to get away from her.

Kenma only sat back down on the grass, “Okay.”

The monster moved to sit next to him and he felt goosebumps going up his arm where it brushed her’s. He discreetly turned to look around as people walked to and fro around the area of the riverbank. No one was paying them any attention.

Not one person.

Kenma wanted to scream at them. Why the hell weren’t they doing anything to help him? Can’t they see the thing beside him?

“Don’t worry,” the monster whispered, “No one will bother us.”

“What?”

She shrugged, her smirk bigger, “They can’t see what’s wrong.”

Now, Kenma understood. It’s not that they _wouldn’t_ do anything, they couldn’t because they _couldn’t see what was wrong_. He tried to remain indifferent as she continued nonchalantly, “It’s the Mist, you see. It prevents normal people from seeing us for what we really are.”

He inwardly cursed. Now what? He’s alone and only he can see this thing.

 _I should have ran as soon as she approached me_ , he thought then he shook his head. _No, that couldn’t have saved me._

_She would have caught up to me easily._

“ ** _Kenma!_** ” The next thing he heard was a loud, painful screech coming from the monster and a hand grabbing his in a hurry.

He looked up in surprise to see a familiar mess of black locks. _Kuro._

“What were you doing, alone like that?” Kuroo fixed him with a disapproving look, “Didn’t your dad tell you to go straight home when something feels off?”

“What? Kuro, you can see that thing?” 

Kuroo gave him an incredulous look, “Are you kidding me? That thing was huge! Who could miss that? Her eyes were huge and red!”

Kenma was about to answer him, only to almost trip at the booming voice from behind them, “ **You shouldn’t have done that, stupid little demigods!** ”

Kuroo only tightened his grip on him and resolutely muttered, “Don’t look back. Just follow my lead.”

Kenma did.

  


After spending more than an hour running around town, hiding in alleyways and among crowds of people, they finally lost the monster chasing them. Kenma figured it was because of their smaller stature.

Kuroo led him inside his house, lightly berating him, “It’s a good thing I saw you! What were you doing, sitting beside that thing? I know you’re smart, but this isn’t some video game, alright?!”

Huffing in exhaustion, Kenma collapsed to his knees in the living room and shook his head, “I just… I thought I had it handled, okay?”

_I didn’t want this to happen to me either._

Kenma curled up into a ball, burying his head in the grooves of his knees, sniffling silently. Kuroo’s eyes softened and he sat next to him, ruffling his hair, “Sorry… Well, you’re safe now. We both are.”

They stayed like that, Kuroo combing his hand through his medium-length, black locks as Kenma silently sobbed to himself.

That was the first time he let himself go.

“I guess I better go tell Mom to go and buy dinner for us,” Kuroo muttered.

“You threw a dinner’s worth of groceries?”

“It was the only thing I had, okay?”

  


“Eh, so you’re saying… I’m not normal?” Kuroo exclaimed, eyebrows furrowed and sitting on his desk chair, his manga laying open atop his desk. Kenma shrugged, eyes unmoving from his PSP screen, “Probably.”

“What does that even mean?” Kuroo stretched his back out groaning, “You better play volleyball with me after this.”

“That… thing,” Kenma started, “She basically told me that if a person’s able to see through this _Mist_ , then you’re not like other people.”

“So, we’re both weird?”

“Yes?” Kenma clicked his tongue as his character died. “And for the record, I’m not going to play volleyball with you today.”

“Aww.”

Kuroo hummed, contemplating by himself. They both sat in silence, opting to say nothing, until Kuroo turned to look at where Kenma sat sprawled on his bed, “So, what are we?”

“Huh?”

“Well, if we’re not normal, we must be something else, right? We’re not crazy, are we?”

Kenma frowned, still looking at his PSP, his fingers flurrying over its keys, “I… don’t know…”

“You could be a little more concerned, you know.”

“I don’t really care.”

Turns out it was in his best interest to care.

  


Kenma’s dad embraced him in relief, “I told you to use the cellphone only for emergencies!”

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m glad Tetsurou was around and nothing happened to Kenma-kun,” Kuroo’s mother came in with a tray of tea, smiling, “Then, I guess it’s really time we tell you?”

Kuroo’s head shot up from where he lay on the couch, “Huh? Tell us what, mom?”

His mother placed the tray of tea on the coffee table, moving to pour them all cups, “The truth, honey.”

“Truth..?” Kenma muttered before his dad took him by the shoulders and stared into his eyes, “Kenma, will you listen to my story?”

Kenma saw the desperation in his father’s eyes and without hesitation, nodded. His dad’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “You know how I said your mother had to leave us?”

Kenma only nodded, listening patiently.

“Your mother…” His father laughed, “She was an intelligent woman. We met-”

“At work,” Kenma finished, “When Dad was at a conference.”

“Yes,” He took hold of his son’s hands and sighed, “Your mother was a brilliant young woman who loved learning everything there is to learn about the world. She especially loved learning about history. We always used to go on museum dates.”

“Your intelligence,” He chuckled, “You definitely got that from your mother. She would spend hours in libraries, reading about the wars of the old, criticizing the strategies they executed...”

Kenma didn’t know why his dad was talking so much about his mother now. Did his mom have something to do with everything that just happened? Was she like him?

Was she not normal, too?

“Dad, was it because of Mom that this happened?” His father smiled wryly and ruffled his hair, “Seems so. Your mother wasn’t… she wasn’t normal. She wasn’t even _mortal_.”

Kenma blinked. “What?”

His father continued, “I know it’s hard to believe, but Kenma…”

“Your mother is a goddess.”

  


Kenma sat there, trying his best to process everything. As an eight-year old who had to go through a lot that day, then hearing he’s actually a god’s kid, well…

“So, Kuro’s like me, too?” Kenma raised a brow and his father looked taken aback.

Kuroo turned to his mother who started giggling, “Mom?”

“Kenma-kun’s certainly smart for his age,” She smiled and beckoned Kuroo to come closer. Kuroo came to his mother and sat in front of her as she caressed his cheek, “Well, yes.”

Kuroo turned to Kenma in surprise, “Did you know that Kenma was-?”

“No,” she shook her head softly, “it’s rather fortunate you two found each other.”

Kenma’s father laughed, “Talk about coincidences!”

Kenma silently watched as Kuroo’s mom regaled her son with stories of his father, a god who was - despite his cunning and mischievous nature- a responsible and down-to-earth man (well, _god_ ). Kuroo eagerly listened to every word that came out of her lips, taking minute sips of his tea.

There was one fleeting thought that came to the eight-year old’s mind: he doubted meeting Kuroo was a coincidence. _It must have been fate_ , he added, _if there was such a thing._

  


* * *

  


**\- Twelve Years Old -**

  


Kenma groaned, brushing out the knots in his bleached blonde hair. He was starting to regret doing it… Why hadn’t he let Kuroo talk him out of doing it, anyway? It hadn’t even solved any of his problems!

The kids at school just made it another reason to bother him.

“Kenma!” His dad called out from downstairs, “Kuroo-kun’s here!”

“I’ll be down!” He replied, agitated. Kenma sat on his bed, pulling a sock onto his feet and just when he got his socks on, the door to his room burst open with a loud bam, “Yo!”

“Kuro, shut up.”

Kuroo frowned, “It’s so early and you look like you’re already out to kill someone. It’s our last day of school, geez...”

“That’s because someone just had to come into my room yelling so early in the morning.”

At that, Kuroo looked slightly apologetic, “Heh, sorry.”

Kenma only sighed in reply and took his backpack, “Let’s just get this done with.”

Kenma pushed him out of his room and herded him down the stairs and out the door. His father stopped him to hand over his lunch, which Kenma accepted gratefully. “Enjoy yourself and take care, okay? No cell phones.”

He was done with cell phones, thank you very much. Both boys bade him goodbye and they were off to school.

Kuroo held onto the straps of his backpack as they walked down the sidewalk and raised a brow at the blonde, “You talk about school as if it’s some kind of quest from one of your games.”

“You’re telling me, that everyday you walk those halls and you don’t see monsters?”

“... We are talking about middle schoolers like us and not _actual_ monsters, right?”

“Yes, Kuro.”

“Then, no? Yes? I don’t know! I don’t like school even more than you do,” Kuroo shrugged, “Some kids look at me like I’m a weirdo, and I can’t even read what’s on the board most of the time.”

“Dyslexia sucks.” Kenma felt sympathetic. Even playing the games he wanted to play was starting to get difficult, and it wasn’t getting any easier the older he gets. If he wasn’t so used to it, Kenma would have already quit gaming by now.

“It makes school even worse,” Kuroo agreed. He sighed and slung an arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and grinned, “But I’m glad I got to suffer alongside you! It’s been a great year, heh.”

“Great.”

“Hey, what do you have for lunch?”

“I don’t know, a sandwich?”

“What? Me too!”

  


Kenma warily made his way through the crowded cafeteria, shrinking at the obnoxious noise from the table of jocks he just passed by. He began desperately looking for that familiar bedhead and made his steps a little faster.

“Kenma! Over here!”

He let out a relieved sigh as soon as he sighted his best friend already sitting. He hurriedly made his way towards him and dropped his lunch on the table. Kuroo scooched closer to him and raised a brow, “What? Math that bad?”

“You know it’s not that.”

“Classmates?” Kenma answered with a noncommittal groan. “I’m guessing that’s it then.”

“How’s your last day of school so far?” Kuroo shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich, “Fine. Could be better, but honestly? I can’t stop thinking about summer break!”

“Of course, you can’t.”

“Oh come on!” Kuroo frowned, pressing his face closer to his, peering up at him, “We should do something, Kenma!”

“Have you forgotten that _one_ summer I actually planned to do something?”

The older boy rolled his eyes, “That was a one time thing! I swear we’re going to have fun, you and me! Please?”

Kenma was certain it wasn’t just a ‘ _one time thing_ ’. Not with how his father had gotten so much more protective of him ever since it happened, and how he’d steer clear of cell phones since.

But he did want to have fun with Kuro. (Nobody better tell him that).

“Okay, fine,” he sighed before biting into his own sandwich.

  


“Whoa,” Kuroo whispered in awe as he stepped out of the car. Kenma wasn’t sure if he agreed with the sentiment. “Are we going camping after all?”

He pulled on the strap of his backpack, “Where are we, and why are we so far away from home?”

His father placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “This is summer camp,” he winked. Kenma knew that was their cover, but he hadn’t known it was going to be actual camping. He looked around hesitantly at the fields of strawberries surrounding them.

It was strangely comforting. Then, he realized his vision slowly wavering. Everything was blurry. It was like something was unveiling to him…

Suddenly, he wasn’t looking at a field of strawberries anymore. He stared up at a hill in shock.

Kuroo’s mother gave them a small push, making both of the boys lose their balance. Kuroo turned to her in surprise, “Mom?”

“Go,” she smiled, “We can’t go beyond here.”

“What do you mean?” She only shook her head.

She approached Kenma and brought a hand to his cheek and whispered, “Take care of him for me, will you, Kenma-kun?”

Smiling, she waved, “Have fun!”

  


* * *

  


They trudged up the hill, grunting with effort. Kuroo was carrying Kenma’s duffel with his other bags and groaned, “Kenma, you really need to start working out.”

“Why should I, when I have you to carry my stuff for me?”

“Ha-ha, funny.”

Kuroo looked up as the sound of clanking metal and loud voices got closer, sweat on his brow, “I think… we’re almost there…”

Kenma followed the direction of his gaze and saw an enormous pine tree. Were they really going to camp? He really wasn’t made for any of these outdoor activities. Kenma just wanted to drop dead then and there. He heard a loud whoop and the flapping of large wings from above his head.

They both looked up just in time to see a kid riding a _pegasus_ swoop above them. Kuroo looked dumbstruck, dropping everything he was carrying. “What-?” 

“Oh, new campers?”

Kenma almost ran off. Standing by the tree was a bearded middle-aged man… from the waist-up. His legs were _horse legs_ . He’d read about them in English Class. _A centaur._

There was an actual centaur here! But, that wasn’t all.

Kuroo nudged him and whispered, “Is that a sleeping dragon..?”

Kenma swallowed a lump in his throat. Like Kuroo so kindly pointed out, there was a dragon lying asleep and wrapped around the large pine tree.

“Welcome to Camp Half-Blood,” The centaur smiled kindly down at them, “I’m Chiron, the activities director.” He descended the hill.

Chiron herded them up to the pine tree reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Peleus is rather fond of campers, he’s a very domesticated dragon. Just be careful, he’s awfully protective of the Golden Fleece.”

“Golden Fleece?” Kuroo blinked, “What’s that?”

Chiron pointed to something gold hanging off the tree, “It’s a magical artifact that helps keep this camp safe from monsters.”

Both boys gave the dragon a small pat each on the head as Chiron encouraged and after, looked around in awe as they walked from the hill to a large, sky-blue house. Kuroo grabbed onto Kenma’s arm excitedly, “They have a volleyball court, Kenma!”

“I can see that, Kuro.” Chiron chuckled, “We take volleyball serious around here. We hold leagues every week, and the campers get really competitive.”

“Hear that, Kenma?” Kuroo grinned, “Volleyball leagues every week!”

Kenma didn’t know what to feel about that. He could already see Kuroo dragging him to the court every chance he could get.

“This is the Big House,” Chiron walked ahead of them and his hooves going up the house’s porch steps, “You can find the camp infirmary here, and this is where we meet with the cabin counselors.”

“Cabin counselors?” Kenma diligently followed the centaur into the Big House, Kuroo following closely behind. Chiron led them into an office and started fiddling with a video player, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, yes? This orientation film will answer it for you, don’t worry.”

Kenma blinked. Did he just say orientation film?

Halfway into the film, there was a silent knock coming from the doorway. Both Kenma and Kuroo looked away from where the film was playing as Chiron came to the door. A boy their age with piercing gunmetal blue eyes and messy dark locks stood outside, a serious look on his face, “Chiron, may I talk to you?”

“Akaashi,” Chiron blinked, “Is something the matter?”

The boy sighed, “There was a little… situation with the Ares and Athena kids. Daichi-san sent me here.”

The centaur instantly looked worn. “I see… I’ll head over to them. Can I entrust these two to you, then?”

Akaashi nodded. The centaur gave him a pat on the shoulder and gave them one last smile, “I’ll see you kids later.”

  


“Anyway, my name is Akaashi Keiji from Cabin 10, Aphrodite Cabin,” he introduced, “You guys are..?”

“Kozume Kenma,” Kenma answered, “this is Kuro.”

Kuroo offered a hand to shake, “Kuroo Tetsurou. Hi!”

Akaashi accepted his hand and briefly shook it, nodding, “Likewise. So, I assume I’ll have to show you guys around. Where have you been to?”

“Well,” Kuroo hummed, “we met Peleus, and just saw some things around. We don’t really know anything much yet.”

“Okay, I got it,” Akaashi nodded, “We’ll start from here, then.”

Akaashi led them out of the Big House and walked ahead. Pointing just a few steps away from where they stood, “There’s the camp’s armory and forge, where campers can get their weapons.” Kenma almost choked on his spit, “...weapons?”

Akaashi nodded, “All of the kids here are trained for their own protection. As demigods, we get targeted a lot by monsters,” He sighed, “All of us here had experienced getting attacked at least once.”

Kuroo nodded slowly, “Makes sense. Hey, Akaashi? What’s that over there?” Pointing to a foliage of greenery and tall trees, Kuroo strained his neck to look even more than he could and failed.

“That’s the Southern Woods. I highly advise you not to go in there,” Akaashi warned, “It’s very dangerous. Why don’t we get you guys settled in?”

Great. Not only was it dangerous outside camp, even inside there was something to be scared of. Why was Kenma even surprised? Akaashi led them to the direction of the camp cabins, which were, from a distance, all decorated rather ornately in their very own way.

“What’s in there?” Kuroo asked curiously, his eyes still fixated on the woods. Kenma rolled his eyes, “Why are you so interested about it?”

“I don’t know! Isn’t it kinda, mysterious in a way?”

“Just myrmekes,” Akaashi shrugged, “Some nymphs and well, satyrs. The Grove of Dodona...”

“Myr- what?”

“Myrmekes,” Akaashi clarified, “They’re like ants.”

Kuroo laughed, “You want me to be scared of a bunch of _ants_?”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Akaashi’s lips, “You should be because they’re as big as a full-grown German Shepherd, spray poison, have very dangerous mandibles and they attack in groups. I hear they’re very vicious creatures.”

Kuroo nervously swallowed a lump in his throat, “Huh. Interesting.”

Kenma scoffed, “Just don’t wander in there.”

“I won’t now!”

“So you _were_ planning on going in there after all?” 

"Anyone interested in reading?" Akaashi cut them both off and Kuroo looked at him bewildered, "You can _read_?"

"Our brains are hardwired to interpret Greek, so the books we have are all in Greek."

"That's a _thing_?"

  


“Here we are,” Akaashi announced, stepping in front of the door, “Cabin 11 - The Hermes Cabin.” He knocked twice and called out, “Anyone in there? We have new campers!”

They heard loud shuffling from inside the door and a squeaky voice, “New campers? Wai-” A loud thud came from inside and the three outside the door jumped in surprise. Akaashi sighed, “You okay in there, Lev?”

“I’m okay!” The door opened and an eager-looking boy greeted them at the door, a grin plastered on his face, “Hello! Welcome to Cabin 11!”

Kuroo walked in, lugging his bags with him and taking in the interior of the cabin. Inside, the brown walls were slightly worn and chipped off. Above the door, there was a large caduceus hanging.

“Where are the others?” Akaashi asked, directing it to Lev and he shrugged, “I think they’re out for archery practice.”

“Why aren’t you there?”

Lev looked sheepish, “I wasn’t really feeling well this morning, so Suga-san had me resting.”

“Ah, Sugawara-san’s your cabin counselor,” Akaashi turned to the two, “You can ask him anything you need help with.”

“Me too!” Lev chirped, “I’d be glad to help!”

Akaashi smiled, “Where can they stay, Lev?”

Lev perked up. “Right this way!”

  


After getting settled in, both boys sat in their respective bunk beds and sighed.

Kenma instantly reached into his bag and pulled out his PSP. Kuroo sat on his bed, behind him and peered from over his shoulder, “You’re really just going to spend the rest of your time here, playing?”

“Hm.”

“We’re finally on summer break! Let’s go and explore!”

“You go.” Kenma’s eyebrows were furrowed in focus as he grunted.

“Please?”

They both sat in silence as Kenma’s fingers continuously pressed on the buttons of his PSP, focus unwavering. Kuroo just sat there waiting. And waiting.

And still waiting.

Kenma sighed, putting down his game, “Fine, let’s go.”

Kuroo grinned, “Thought you’d never ask.”

  


The rest of their afternoon was spent on going around camp with Akaashi and little by little getting introduced to the rest of the campers. So far, everyone has been cool and nice. Kenma also met Hinata Shoyou, a son of Apollo that’s a year younger than him.

He seemed to be the excitable type, but he was nice enough. He felt they would get along well, and it seemed Kuroo thought the same.

The guy wouldn’t stop grinning at him.

Kuroo, on the other hand, met a handful of volleyball idiots like him. He couldn’t help but ask them to play with him. Everyone in their vicinity readily agreed, and that’s how Kenma found himself being dragged to the volleyball court the first day he came to camp.

Hinata, seeing the slight reluctance on his face, matched his pace and asked, “You don’t like playing volleyball, Kenma?”

Frowning, Kenma looked down at the ball he held, “It’s not like I hate it… I don’t like it either.”

Tilting his head, Hinata blinked, “Why do you play, then?”

Kenma shrugged, “Kuro loves it.”

“You must really like Kuroo-san, then!” Hinata beamed innocently and Kenma stared at him like he grew two heads, “To go along with him this much, Kenma must really like Kuroo-san.”

There was a beat of silence before Kenma caught up to what he just said.

“I- It’s not like that!” Kenma sputtered, the tips of his ears red, “He’s just- when he moved, he just never had a friend to play with and I felt bad because he always played Virtua Fighter with me and-!”

Hinata laughed and slung an arm around him, “It’s okay, Kenma! I understand!”

 _No, you don’t!_ Kenma thought helplessly.

Kuroo looked back at them from where he was walking ahead and raised a brow, “You guys coming?” Hinata nodded enthusiastically and pulled Kenma along, “We are! Let’s go, Kenma!”

Kenma’s grip on the ball tightened. _Don’t think about it._

The summer of Kenma's twelfth year living on Earth, he realized his feelings for his best friend may have been a little bit more than platonic, and he somehow found himself hoping this was nothing more than a mistake. Was fate playing a trick on him?

He sure hoped not.

  


“Daichi!" Kuroo roared, watching as Daichi received the ball from where Hinata spiked it. Kuroo ran to the right, ready to deliver the ball to Kenma who was waiting, “Kenma!”

Kenma got in position, only to falter, eyes wide in shock.

Everyone on court stopped in place. Kuroo blinked in confusion as the ball sailed over Kenma’s head and landed a few steps from him. “What? Why’d everyone stop?”

Kenma pointed just above his head. Kuroo raised a brow in question and stared as a glowing caduceus hovered over him. He turned to Lev, “Isn’t this..?”

“Hermes - the god of roads, travel, trade and thieves,” Sugawara finished, smiling, “Welcome, brother!”

“Hey! We have a new brother!” Lev yelled happily.

“No fair!” Hinata pouted, “It’s been years since we’ve had new Apollo kids!”

“We just had someone come in last month,” Kageyama interjected, looking smug. Daichi sighed, instantly looking exhausted, “Don’t make it a competition, you two.”

Sugawara grinned, “You say that, but one just came in yours just last week, right?”

“Iwaizumi is a nice kid,” Daichi agreed, “He’s good with tinkering.”

“We should probably head to the Dining Pavillion now,” Akaashi said, looking up at the setting sun, “It’s almost dinner time.”

  


“Huh, never thought my dad would be Hermes,” Kuroo muttered between chews, “But now that I think about it - some of what Mom said matched with what these guys told me about him.”

“Hm.”

“What about you, Kenma?” Kenma looked up from his food, “Aren’t you wondering about your godly parent at all?”

“I am.”

“Who do you think it is?” Shrugging, Kenma only took a sip of his grape juice. Lev joined in on their conversation, “Don’t worry, Kenma-san! I think you’ll find out sooner or later!”

“When I came here, it only took a day!” Sugawara explained, “There were days when some kids never got claimed, but because of a promise with the gods and a war, well…”

Then, a grin appeared on his face, “I don’t think we need to wait for much longer?”

Kenma stiffened as something settled on his shoulder. Kuroo gawked at him as he slowly turned to look at his shoulder where a silvery owl sat comfortably, its big glowing eyes staring at him.

“Athena - the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy,” Chiron said, his eyes kindly looking down at him, “She claims you, Kozume Kenma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> For those of you who are unfamiliar about the PJO universe, I added a little guide for the things mentioned after every chapter! Fellow demigods, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Most of the information I’ve gotten through reading the books and checking with Riordan Wikia!
> 
> *Cellphones - All demigods experience… difficulties with technology. They’re advised not to use them because monsters are able to track them down whenever they use it. For communication purposes, most demigods use Iris messaging - which is, essentially, video messaging through a rainbow!
> 
> *The Mist - The Mist is a force that acts as a veil that twists a mortal’s perception from seeing the supernatural, often changing it into something that the mortal could comprehend. It is controlled by the Titan goddess of magic, Hecate.
> 
> *Athena - The goddess of wisdom, arts, mathematics, civilization, skill and battle strategy, Athena is the favorite daughter of the king of Olympus, the god of the sky, Zeus. She is also the half-sister of Ares, the god of War, with whom she has a… rocky relationship with (to say the least), so there’s no wonder the Athena kids are always picking fights with the Ares kids. 
> 
> Athena is also a virgin goddess, meaning she does not marry nor does she have children the usual way. Kenma himself was conceived like how all Athena kids were born - through her own thoughts combined with the thoughts of the mortal men she loves. Just like her, these children were born from a splitting headache of the man. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva.
> 
> *Hermes - The god of travelers, roads, athletes, diplomacy, thieves, innovation and trade, Hermes is the Greek messenger god known for his winged shoes. His kids are often known as the ‘pranksters’ at camp, often starting prank wars for fun, with their resourceful and cunning nature being rather advantageous to them. His Roman counterpart is Mercury.
> 
> *Dyslexia (and ADHD) - Demigods like Kenma and Kuroo in this fic are diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. This was normal for them - dyslexia is a result of their brains being hardwired to process Greek, while ADHD is a manifestation of the inborn supernatural senses and prowess they possess in battle.
> 
> *Camp Half-Blood - Camp Half-Blood is the camp for demigods like them. Most kids not only visit for the summer, but actually live there all year round. It’s a solace for kids like them who feel often feel like outcasts.
> 
> *Chiron - He is the activities director of the Camp Half-Blood and a famed trainer of heroes in Greek mythology, who is also an immortal centaur - creatures who have the head and torso of a man and the body of a horse. He was given immortality by Zeus so he could continue teaching demigods to become heroes.
> 
> *Peleus - It is a dragon that guards the Golden Fleece, an artifact that protects the entire camp from mortal and monster eyes by incorporating around the vicinity a magical border. The Golden Fleece sits atop a tree known as Thalia’s Tree in the books - Thalia was a demigod daughter of Zeus who got turned into a tree (it’s a long story).
> 
> *Cabins - The demigods at camp are all designated into cabins! Just as mentioned earlier in the fic, newcomers that haven’t been claimed yet are placed in the Hermes cabin in the meantime, as per the acceptance policy of Hermes (since he is the god of travelers).
> 
> All of the cabins at camp are as follows (from Cabin 1 to 20): Zeus, Hera (even though she does not have demigod children - "Hera doesn't run around having affairs with mortals. That is her husband's job", yikes!), Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, Hades, Iris, Hypnos, Nemesis, Nike, Hebe, Tyche, Hecate.
> 
> *Woods - The woods is where the dryads live and where the monsters are stocked. It is generally known to be a dangerous place, so one knows they shouldn’t enter without a weapon or a companion. It is also the site for the camp’s famous Capture the Flag tournaments, as well as monster-hunting training.
> 
> *Myrmekes - These are giant, ant-like creatures who live in an Ant Hill in the forest that are attracted to shiny objects, and are viciously dangerous with their huge mandibles and strong back armour, often swarming their enemies in groups. They also spray poison.
> 
> *Grove of Dodona - It is a stand of sacred oaks in the Camp Half-Blood Forest that were initially planted by the Titaness Rhea, the mother of the elder Olympian gods. It is the only oracle that is not affiliated with Apollo, the god of the sun, light, prophecy, healing and truth.
> 
> *Caduceus - The caduceus is a staff the Greek god Hermes carries around. It is also one of his symbols.  
> *Claimed - Demigods are usually claimed by their godly parents within a week at their stay, which enabled them to get sorted into their supposed cabins, acquainting them with the rest of their siblings.


	2. killer hero's quest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title comes from the lightning thief musical song - killer quest! 
> 
> special thanks to my beta vityasgirl i love you
> 
> idk if anyone's interested but this fic actually stemmed from a previous bokuaka thread i made on twitter! check it out [here](https://twitter.com/B0KUAKA_/status/1262386402081333249)
> 
> thank you and enjoy reading! uwu

**CHAPTER 2.**

**  
\- Thirteen Years Old -**

One thing Kenma found he really enjoyed was reading everything there is to know about monsters, so since last summer, he had spent the rest of his free time at camp inside the Athena cabin and ransacking their library, reading up everything they had in stock.

The Minotaur? A Hydra? These were monsters he only ever saw in his video games! It was jarring that creatures like these actually existed in real life.

And the monster that chased him and Kuroo around town? Yeah, that was an empousa. From the looks of it, she was very dangerous and the books he read up only reinstated that fact. They were pretty lucky that they had lost her.

_Thanks to Kuro’s sneaky Hermes genes, probably._

Man, was this what it felt not being dyslexic? He could read anything without his head hurting… He felt invincible. _This was great._

Kuroo, on the other hand, had taken well to training in his free time. He was always hanging out with the Ares kids, brushing up on his swordsmanship. After he got Swiftblade (he didn’t know where that name came from, but he did tell Kuroo it sounded awfully nerdy, only to get frowned at), he took it upon himself to learn how to wield it.

_“If we’re going to get attacked by monsters left and right, one of us needs to know how to fight, you know.”_

He probably shouldn’t think about how that one sentence made his heart squeeze. Not that he didn’t somehow know how to defend himself, because Kenma did. He didn’t get an electric spear for nothing.

Sighing, he stared down at the same paragraph he’d been reading for the past ten minutes. The door to their cabin slammed open and a loud voice came interrupting his thoughts. “Kenma!”

Closing his book and tucking it under an arm, he stood from where he sat on his desk, “What is it, Shoyou?”

Hinata came bounding in his room, grinning, “Let’s go, it’s lunch time!”

Kenma followed him out of the cabin. “How did you even come in?”

“I asked Tsukishima for help.”

“Did you ask or did you harass him?”

“I swear I didn’t harass him this time!”

Kenma sighed. He was going to have to apologize to his brother later.

Lunch that day felt different. Everyone was in a buzz, and Kuroo was nowhere to be found. Normally, he would be by the buffet table - a plate full of food already in hand- hollering at him from across the pavilion. Kenma saw Lev sitting at their cabin table and reluctantly sat beside him.

This was going to be a very noisy lunch, he could tell. Lev looked so excited.

“Kenma-san!” His eyes were practically twinkling now, “Hello!”

“Hey,” Kenma replied, a brow raised in question, “What’s up with you? What’s got you so worked up?” He placed his plate on the table and took his seat.

“We have a new camper!” Lev clapped his hands, grinning, “Since you and Kuroo-san arrived last year, we haven’t had any new campers, you know!”

“Who is it?” Lev shrugged, “I don’t really know yet!”

Someone stood behind them and both turned to look up at who it is. “Why are you even sitting here?” Tsukishima frowned, “Your table’s right over there.”

“Why’re you being so cold now, Tsukki?” Lev frowned almost playfully, “And we got along so well last time we played volleyball…”

“Don’t call me that.”

From the sounds of it, Kenma doubted they got along. Lev was easily one of the people in camp that his brother couldn’t stand, and Tsukishima never failed to show that. Well, it wasn’t like he hated him with all his being. More like he just couldn’t handle being with Lev for long periods of time.

The Dining Pavilion erupted into loud chatter, and a resounding yell sounded from the Ares cabin’s table. Everyone turned to see Kuroo laughing animatedly with the new guy. Kenma watched as _new guy_ (he doesn’t know what in Hades’ his name is, so he’s just going to have to call him that for now) slapped a hand on Kuroo’s back, throwing his head back, chortling.

“That’s the new guy?” He asked Tsukishima, who only took his seat and shrugged, “Haven’t seen his face around, so probably.”

“Kuroo-san’s so close to him already,” Lev mused, “Do you guys actually know him, Kenma-san?”

Shaking his head, Kenma turned back to his plate of nachos, “No.”

“Isn’t he just one of those people?” Tsukishima pointed out, “You know, like the guy who has to be friends with literally everyone,” he finished, taking a chip and dipping it into some cheese.

Kenma thought so too. Until he met Bokuto Koutarou himself.

He watched as he loudly greeted Akaashi, a wide beam on his face.

Bokuto was… he was _unique._ It wasn’t like he had to be friends with everybody - it was that people just couldn’t help but be attracted to him. It was like a swarm of moths to a flame. People just seemed to flock to wherever he was.

He had a very infectious aura, and you found yourself just unnecessarily hanging around him. It may not be the case for everyone, but he knew for sure it was for Akaashi.

Kenma watched the son of Aphrodite from the corner of his eye. Akaashi’s eyes hadn’t strayed very far since Bokuto said hello to him. For someone relatively cool and collected, Akaashi sure isn’t being subtle.

Bokuto had been very _tactile_ the first time Kenma talked to him. “Hey!” He slung an arm around Kenma’s shoulders like it wasn’t the first time they’ve met, and grinned, “So, you’re Kenma? Heard a lot about you from Kuroo!”

“Yes.” His grip was tighter than he expected. Kenma must have let the pain show on his face, because Kuroo laughed and told him off, “Dude, Kenma probably can’t breathe!”

Bokuto hurriedly loosened his grip on him, “Oops, sorry! I’m Bokuto Koutarou!” 

“Nice to meet you,” Kenma rubbed his neck warily, “and it’s fine.”

“So, you’re an Athena kid, Kenma?” Bokuto let out a low whistle, “You must be really smart, then!”

“He is,” Kuroo agreed, chest puffed out proudly, “If it weren’t for his dyslexia, Kenma could probably top his class!”

“I’m not.”

“Oh, don’t be too modest!” Kuroo grinned cheekily, knowing how much it annoys Kenma. He only narrowed his eyes at him in reply.

“So, what’s this about going to the Oracle, Bokuto?” Kuroo stood, arm akimbo, “What did Chiron say?”

Bokuto shrugged, “Dunno. Chiron just told me to come when I’m fine to go. I’m done unpacking now!”

Kenma arched an eyebrow. Sounds suspicious. Kuroo must have thought so too, as he sent Kenma a knowing look. Kenma only shrugged minutely. Akaashi, not knowing any better, stood from his seat and said, “I can bring you there, Bokuto-san. If it’s the Oracle you need to see, she’s in the Big House Attic.”

Bokuto perked up at that and he pumped up a fist, “Yeah, let’s go!”

Kenma and Kuroo decided to tag along as Bokuto talked Akaashi’s ear off.

It wasn’t like Akaashi was bothered by it. If anything, the son of Aphrodite looked like he was enjoying himself immensely, something Kenma can say was unbelievably expected.

The walk to the Big House was relatively uneventful, if you didn’t count the latest prank war going on between the Hephaestus and Aphrodite cabins. Akaashi swore on his life that he had nothing to do with it and that they were safe with him. Bokuto looked excited regardless. “Can I join?”

“Please don’t, Bokuto-san.”

Kenma doubted he was out of the woods just yet, seeing as he was best friends with a Hermes kid who looked like he was already scheming something. Even now as they came across what looked to be a scuffle between Oikawa and Iwaizumi, children of Aphrodite and Hephaestus respectively, he couldn’t help but sneak a look at the mischievous grin on Kuroo’s face. Great.

“Whatever you’re planning, stop it.”

“Hm?” Kuroo gave him the most innocent look he could come up with and added, “Whatever do you mean, best friend?”

“Shut up.”

“Can you guys believe it?” Bokuto sighed dramatically, “Just after I got away from this big, giant bull, I got ambushed by a big lion scorpion thing!”

 _Giant bull?_ Kenma raised a brow, “You mean a minotaur?”

“Is that what’s it called?” Bokuto blinked. “It was ginormous!”

 _Lion scorpion thing_ … Maybe a Chimera. Maybe. He’d have to check his books later on. Akaashi stared at him unblinkingly. Kenma stared back at him questioningly. Akaashi shook his head.

“If it wasn’t for Chuck, I would have been left for dead!” Bokuto exclaimed, “Well, I guess I wouldn’t be if I could somehow do that wind thingy again.”

“Wind thingy?” Akaashi muttered under his breath.

They walked up the stairs to the Big House attic, Bokuto still looking around in amazement. “By the way, what is the Oracle, Akaashi?”

Akaashi stopped abruptly in place, staring at Bokuto in disbelief, “We came here and you don’t even know what an Oracle is.”

“Yes?” Bokuto tilted his head in question, “What’s wrong?”

Akaashi sighed, shaking his head, “No. It’s… nothing.”

Kenma saw the resolved look in his eyes and almost rolled his eyes. Man, Akaashi was far gone for this guy. Kuroo gave the newcomer a pet on the back, “Let’s just call the Oracle a messenger of sorts.”

Kenma snorted.

“Kenma.”

Shrugging, Kenma just gave Kuroo a blank look.

Akaashi took Bokuto’s arm, “She’s the one who speaks of the prophecies of Apollo.”

“Why do I need to go see her?” Bokuto scratched his neck, “I just got here. Do I… need to go away after all?”

_Do I not belong here?_

Kenma felt for him in an instant. Akaashi’s eyes softened, “No, Bokuto-san. I’m sure everything’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah, dude,” Kuroo slung an arm around him and pulled him along, “We should go and greet her, anyway.”

Kenma stared at the back of Bokuto’s head and thought, _maybe we aren’t so different after all._

When Akaashi said the Oracle of Delphi lived upstairs in the Big House attic, he expected it would be some old, mysterious lady wearing a cloak in a dark, dingy room. He expected to see something ominous, like a bunch of skeleton heads, an altar or some weird crosses and candles scattered across the room.

Needless to say, what he expected was not this. It was like walking into a fortune-teller’s shop, only littered with bottles of wine everywhere. The white carpet by the bed was stained with something red.

No doubt about it. It’s got to be wine.

The blonde-haired woman lying on her queen-sized bed hiccuped as Akaashi pulled the curtains all the way open. He sighed, “Saeko-san, please get a hold of yourself. Have you been drinking again? You know how Mr. D hates that.”

She waved him off, “Oh, please. He’s only jealous I get to do it. It’s been eons since his lips touched this good of a wine! Want a glass?”

“I’m underage,” Akaashi deadpanned. She laughed then hiccuped, “No worries! I won’t tell on you! Come on, just one glass!”

“No thanks.”

Kuroo blinked, “What..?”

“Oh!” Saeko, he recalled her name, looked at the three of them in interest, “You brought me new drinking buddies?”

“We are all underage, Saeko-san,” Akaashi sighed, “Besides, I only brought them to meet you. They’re new campers. Well, Bokuto-san is. These two arrived last summer, when you were in Italy.”

“Ah, Italy,” she sighed dreamily, “Great wine. Great times.”

Bokuto poked at the crystal ball lying atop a circular table covered with wine-red, velvet cloth, “Hey lady, what’s this?”

Saeko took it in her hands, “Don’t just poke it, punk! It’s important!”

“Can you actually tell the future with something like that?” Kuroo peered at it curiously. Kenma snorted derisively.

“Hey!” She protested and Kenma rolled his eyes. 

“Sure you can! If you’re as good as me, that is,” Saeko sat on her plush velvet chair and beckoned them to come closer, “Come! I’ll tell your futures!”

Bokuto immediately sat, looking excited. Kuroo followed suit, curiosity peaked and Akaashi gestured for him to sit beside Kuroo. He sighed and took a seat, watching warily as Saeko closed her eyes and made these ridiculous hand movements around the crystal ball.

This woman has got to be kidding.

She muttered weird incantations under her breath and opened her eyes, narrowing them at Kenma, “You!”

Raising a brow in question, he pointed to himself, “Me?”

“Yes, you!” She grinned, “You like someone, don’t you?”

His eyes widened in shock. He was certainly not expecting that. “What? No.”

“You do,” she waved him off, closing her eyes and continued to execute those weird hand movements over the surface of the ball, “And he is-”

Kenma slammed a hand over the table in a hurry, cheeks flushed, “No!”

All three of his companions looked at him in shock. Saeko only grinned and shrugged, “Okay. I won’t say anything more.”

Kenma cleared his throat and sat back down, cheeks still red. She turned to the other three demigods in the room, “Well, I can also read your palms!”

“Oh, me! Do mine!” Bokuto slammed his hand expectantly, palm up on the table, “Please?”

Saeko grinned, “Got ya!” 

She took his hand and flinched, her eyes slowly dilating. Bokuto laughed nervously as her head lolled down, “Hey, uh… lady? You okay?”

The aura around the room shifted and somehow, it got darker inside even with the curtains open. Kenma looked around in shock as the room was enveloped in smoke: Green smoke. Her voice was strangely raspy as she spoke, her breath coming out in wispy green smoke, “Bokuto Koutarou, son of Zeus.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened as Bokuto stiffened in his seat. Kenma felt an arm come up to wrap around him. He cast a glance to his left, Kuroo’s grip tightened, “What even..?”

Saeko’s lips opened to speak, her eyes a mystique green and trained on Bokuto’s own golden orbs, she uttered:

_“O, son of Zeus, you shall travel West_

_You must seek the truth and the Holy Vest_

_As the fire burns blue and the sky turns to ice,_

_Win or lose, you must pay the price.”_

  
  


After saying the last words, she immediately fell unconscious. Akaashi was by her side in just a nick of time, settling her down more comfortably on her chair. Kuroo sighed, coming to help him and handed him the blanket to cover Saeko with.

“Zeus..?” Kenma turned to look at Bokuto, who still sat in shock. “My dad’s Zeus?”

“Bokuto-san.” Bokuto looked up at Akaashi, eyes stormy, “Akaashi…”

“Let’s go see Chiron,” he suggested, looking resolved. “We’ve got a quest.”

* * *

Kenma did not expect to get roped into anything his second summer at camp.

He didn’t expect to get chosen for a quest. Who would even want him on their team, you know? He wasn’t physically fit- _heck!_ \- he always got picked last for _dodgeball!_ But, for some reason, Akaashi wanted _him_ , of all people, to come with.

Akaashi gave him a knowing look, “I don’t think you know how advantageous it is to have you on the quest with us.”

He didn’t even know why Akaashi had to go. He had nothing to do with the prophecy. That woman stated clearly: _son of Zeus_. Maybe he felt responsible or something? With what, he didn’t know.

Chiron suggested they talk it out tomorrow, in the morning. Glancing at the setting sun, Akaashi sighed and got up from his seat, “Thank you, Chiron.”

Dinner that night was silent.

His siblings kept stealing glances at him, but Kenma just couldn’t stomach anything right now. He ended up just moving his food around his plate, trying to stall for time.

“Something happened?” Kunimi asked, looking over at his plate of food. Kenma sighed, “You could say that.”

“You barely ate anything,” Tsukishima pointed out, “I don’t think it was just ‘nothing.’”

He hadn’t spent much time with these guys, seeing as he just joined camp last year, but nothing really ever gets past these guys. They definitely came from the same mother. (Well, technically, they came springing out of their father’s heads, but…)

A silhouette came blocking the light from behind him, “Kenma.”

Kuroo frowned down at him, “You didn’t eat anything?” Kenma got up from his seat and side-stepped him, taking his plate with him. He dumped all its content down the altar for the gods and walked away.

Kuroo hurried after him. “Kenma! Wait up!” Kunimi shrugged and turned back to his plate, Tsukishima following suit.

He stopped in place as he waited for Kuroo to catch up with him. Kuroo peered into his face curiously, “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look like it.”

“I’m _fine_.”

“You just said that.”

Kenma sighed, frustrated, “Look, I just want to go back and head in to rest, okay?”

“You’re not going to the sing-along?”

“Does it look like I have it in me to listen to a bunch of campfire songs?”

“But Hinata’s playing tonight! You never miss any of his playing.”

He started walking back to the cabin, “He’ll understand.”

“Not before whining your ears off.”

“Kuro.”

Kuroo stepped in front of him and took a hold of his shoulders, looking into his eyes, “Kenma, everything’s going to be okay.”

Relenting, Kenma whispered, “How do you even know that?”

Figures, Kuroo would know what was wrong. There wasn’t even any need to say anything. He just knew.

“Because you’re not going alone,” Kuroo finished. Kenma begged to differ. Being alone with both Akaashi and Bokuto… he liked them enough, but… it was awkward. He felt like a third wheel.

“You don’t know anything, do you?” Kenma raised a brow.

“You didn’t think I’d leave you to go off on your _own_ , right?” Wait, did he hear right?

“You’re coming with?” Kuroo chuckled, ruffling his hair, “Duh! How can I let you go on your own! Why did I even train in the first place?”

_“If we’re going to get attacked by monsters left and right, one of us needs to know how to fight, you know.”_

He didn’t know what to say to that… Kenma only huffed and walked off, “You should have said so in the first place, you jerk!”

Kuroo laughed and quickened his pace, “Aw, come on! I’m sorry! Kenma!”

Bokuto was ecstatic after he got wind of Kuroo’s plans that next morning.

“Bro!” Kuroo struggled under his tight grip, the son of Zeus only chortling, “Glad you have my back on this quest!”

“Please… let me _breathe_ …” Kenma only stared at them as they both messed around, not having the energy to tell them off. Akaashi chose to interrupt with a blank look on his face, “Already?”

Bokuto immediately straightened up and gave him a cheery salute, “Good morning, Akaashi!”

“Good morning, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi watched him help Kuroo up onto his feet, “How was your sleep?”

“It was weird,” he blurted out. Akaashi tilted his head, “Why is that?”

“I can’t sleep with a statue of my father looking down at me like that!”

Kuroo guffawed, “Dude! I knew it! I told you, Akaashi - we should have done something about it!”

Akaashi frowned. “It’s been there ever since I first came here, and I never heard anything…”

“Well, has anyone touched that cabin?” Kenma interjected. Akaashi looked thoughtful, “I can’t remember anyone staying there since I started coming to camp. I heard someone used to stay there, though.”

“How in Tartarus did they live like that?”

Akaashi shrugged. “That aside, anything else, Bokuto-san?”

“Oh, now that you ask, I did have a weird dream last night!” Bokuto exclaimed, confused, “It was really, _really_ weird!”

“How weird?” Kenma was intrigued as well. He heard that demigods often get prophetic dreams, and that whatever they dreamed of, they can use on their quests.

“Well, there was this giant person-”

“Isn’t it just a giant?” Kenma mumbled.

“Shh,” Kuroo shot him a look.

“And this giant- _thanks, Kenma!_ \- was talking to a group of giants. Something about some vest, I don’t really know.”

“Vest,” Akaashi’s eyes narrowed, “Like in the prophecy?”

“‘ _You must seek the truth and the Holy Vest,_ ’ right?” Kenma added thoughtfully, “What’s this vest, anyway?”

“We can ask Chiron,” Akaashi answered, “Did the giant leave any clues about his identity, Bokuto-san?”

Bokuto hummed, then shook his head sadly, “I don’t think so. I can’t remember if he did. Sorry, Akaashi…”

“It’s okay, Bokuto-san. Thank you,” he sighed, “Let’s tell Chiron everything after breakfast. We’d probably have to hurry, though.”

“Why’s that?” Kuroo asked.

“Something tells me we have a really tight schedule for this…”

Kenma’s eyes widened, “‘ _The sky turns to ice_ ’… is that it?” Akaashi fixed him with a smile, “I knew I picked well.”

He was taken aback at that and sputtered, “What-!”

Akaashi chuckled, “You’re very intelligent, Kenma. I’m relieved we have you on this quest, really. Plus, your knowledge on monsters is unparalleled. And to answer your question, yes. I heard some news that parts of the world are experiencing… weather changes.”

“Weather changes?” Kuroo interjected, “Are they that drastic?”

“Afraid so,” Akaashi sighed, “Most of the mortals are unable to go out of their houses because of the sudden drop in temperature. What’s weird is there isn’t even any snow around. It’s just unbearably _cold_. It’s happening even in _tropical_ countries.”

“What’s happening?” Bokuto breathed out, biting his lip, “Why would they even do this?”

“We’ll find out sooner or later, I guess.” Akaashi answered grimly. “Anyway, enough of that! Let’s have breakfast first!”

Kenma followed Akaashi to the dining pavilion and felt an arm pull on him. He glanced back to see Kuroo mouthing ‘are you okay?’ to him. He gave him a tiny nod in reply and the son of Hermes ruffled his hair, walking ahead of him.

Kenma didn’t know what to make of his current predicament, but he was just glad to have his best friend with him.

They spent all afternoon training in preparation for their quest, and Kenma just wanted to go back to his bunk bed and rest. His arms hurt all over and his legs were wobbling. He was just in pain, and yet…

“Kenma! You’ve barely swung that spear around!” Kuroo called out, Swiftblade propped over his shoulder, entirely relaxed, “Come at me and swing with all you’ve got!”

His best friend was starting to get on his nerves now. Maybe he should up the voltage on this thing and give him a friendly little tap on the arm with it. He adjusted his grip on his weapon of choice: an electric spear.

_The first week he came to camp, Akaashi took them to the armory to choose their weapon. He ignored the wide display of swords. For someone who played so much RPG, he was completely uninterested in them, Kuroo pointed out. Kenma just shrugged him off and wandered further into the shed as Kuroo ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the display, looking around disinterestedly._

_Nothing really piqued his interest._

_Until he reached the section containing spears. Kenma took one in hand and frowned, “Heavy.”_

_“If you want something a little lighter, I can help you with that,” someone suggested from behind him. Kenma turned around to look at the person and a kid in a tank top and black slacks, his arms littered with black splotches. “Iwaizumi Hajime, son of Hephaestus. You need help with a weapon?”_

_“Yeah,” Kenma carefully settled the spear back in its place, “I don’t really like swords.”_

_“More of the stabbing type, huh?” Iwaizumi hummed, in search of something particular, “I think I know just the thing for you.”_

_Kenma watched as he brandished a spear and twirled it like it weighed nothing, “This is an electric spear. I can assure you it’s light and the voltage in this can really cause damage to a person.”_

_He accepted the spear and was surprised at how light it was compared to the other spear he held just now. He did an experimental maneuver, one he saw in his video games and heard clapping from afar, “Whoa! A spear? That’s so cool, Kenma!”_

_“It’s just a spear.”_

_“But it’s electric! It makes twice the damage!”_

Kenma narrowed his eyes at his best friend and pointed the electric spear at him, frowning, “I can’t win against you. It’s not fair.”

“It’s not about winning,” Kuroo reasoned calmly, “It’s about knowing how to defend yourself. What if I’m not around?”

“You told me you’d always protect me.”

“But what if on the off chance that I’m _not_ with you, you get attacked and I don’t get there on time?” Kuroo sighed, troubled, “I just want you to be safe.”

He can’t argue with that - he did want to live (and relieve his best friend’s worries). Sighing, he fixed his position and tightened his grip on his spear, “Fine. Teach me.”

Kuroo grinned.

Bokuto looked too cheerful for someone who looked beat up black and blue. Just what did Akaashi have him go through?

Kenma watched him inhale his food at record speed. He could never comprehend how someone could scarf food down that fast. It always took at least thirty minutes for him to finish a sandwich.

“You probably should eat more,” Kunimi advised, staring down at his plate, “It’s going to be difficult to have a good meal on the road.”

Kenma sighed, picking up his own fork, “You’re probably right.”

Tsukishima snorted, “Forget eating, I don’t even know how you’re going to be able to sleep.”

“We’ll figure it out somehow. Probably.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring…” Cut him some slack, geez.

He didn’t know how this made him feel, seeing his cabin-mates making him a shroud, of all things. Kuroo thought it was interesting.

His shroud was made out of gray silk, as customary for Athena kids, embroidered with owls, the sacred animal of their mother. Kuroo’s, on the other hand, was metallic white and emerald green in color. He stared in awe. He had to admit, it did look pretty good.

Akaashi’s was a pale pink and smelled like designer perfume. Kenma saw him deadpan at the sight of it. The smell of it alone was very strong. He held in the urge to vomit.

Bokuto didn’t have any cabin-mates, as children of the Big Three were very rare because of the pact, but the Hephaestus cabin volunteered to make his. His jaw dropped as the Hephaestus kids brought his silver grey shroud out.

Needless to say, he was grateful.

Kuroo leaned in closer to him and whispered, “Isn’t it kind of exciting?”

“I’m not excited to die, Kuro.”

“Why do you think like that?” Kuroo frowned, “Come on! This is an adventure! Lighten up!”

“That’s what they all say, then next thing we know, we’re trapped in some monster’s den, about to get eaten.”

“We’re not! I’m going to protect you, pinky swear,” he held out his pinky, “I swear it on this pinky.”

Kenma looked at his pinky blankly for a minute and sighed, tangling his own pinky with his, locking it, “Fine. You better act as my bodyguard.”

“You better leave your PSP behind.”

“Kuro, you know that’s never going to happen.”

“Where would you even charge that thing?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> *Minotaur - One of the most infamous monsters of Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man.
> 
> *Hydra - The Hydra is a nine-headed serpent-like monster that can grow back its heads.
> 
> *Empousa - This was the monster that Kenma and Kuroo first encountered in Chapter 1. It appeared to be a monster that had a slim, feminine built, with its legs looking different from each other - one, a prosthetic leg, the other a fauna-like leg. Her eyes were glowing bright red.
> 
> *Cabin tables - In the camp’s dining pavilions, campers have a designated table for each cabin. Ares kids sat next to each other, just like the rest of the cabins.
> 
> *Oracle - The oracle is the speaker of prophecies. They are all women who are gifted with clear sight, inheriting the power to tell prophecies before they could pass it on to another when the time came. They often speak in riddles. There are four different oracles, Saeko in this fic being the Oracle of Delphi. The other three are the oracles of Dodona (the grove of Dodona), Phthiotis and Trophonius. 
> 
> *Big House - This is the camp’s main administrative building, where most of the cabin counselors meet when the occasion calls for it. It also houses the Oracle in its attic, as well as Mr. D, Argus - the hundred-eyed giant - and Chiron.
> 
> *Chuck - If you’re a PJO fan, you must know of Chuck, Coach Hedge and Mellie the nymph’s son! He’s a satyr - a creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fauna - who escorts Bokuto to camp, just like other satyrs do.
> 
> *Mr. D - Mr. D is Dionysus, or the god of wine, madness, parties and grape-harvest. As punishment for chasing an off-limit nymph, Zeus made him the camp director of Camp Half-Blood while banning him for ever touching wine during the duration of his 100-year punishment (his alternative is Diet Coke, lmao).
> 
> *Quest - Demigods are given quests through prophecies spoken by the oracle.
> 
> *Sing-Along - Camp Half-Blood hosts Campfire Sing-Alongs for its campers, with the Apollo cabin leading the singing. They gather after dinner!
> 
> *Zeus’ statue - Apparently, the Zeus cabin is not only home to Bokuto, but also to a huge-ass statue of his father that looms over him when he sleeps. It’s weird, lol.
> 
> *Dreams - Demigods often get prophetic dreams about their quests, which could help and make them aware of certain things that they need to watch out for.
> 
> *Giants - Often the enemies of gods, the giant army is usually at the beck and call of Gaea, being the mother of all monsters. But in this case, the giant army is commandeered by Mimas, the king of giants.
> 
> *Armory - The Camp Half-Blood has its own armory where campers get their weapons. Most weapons in there are made by the Hephaestus cabin.
> 
> *Hephaestus - Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera, as well as the husband of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. He is the god of fire, blacksmiths, craftsmen, technology and volcanoes. His Roman counterpart is Vulcan.
> 
> *Shrouds - These are a tradition in Camp Half-Blood. Before a quest, the cabinmates of the demigods that are tasked to go on a quest, make a burial shroud for them, and these shrouds will be burned whether they come back dead or alive.
> 
> scream at me in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it!! <3


	3. amidst the cold, there is warmth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my head hurts and my eyes are burning real bad but here it is *hides in shame*
> 
> as always, thank you vityasgirl for the beta ily

**CHAPTER 3.**

The next morning, Kenma rose to the loud thumping on his door. Kunimi groaned in the bed next to his and turned, eyes squinting at the light seeping through their curtains, “Who is that?” Kenma sighed, getting up from his bed and rubbing his eyes, “Don’t know...”

Opening the door and yawning, Kenma was met with a raised brow, “Were you still asleep? We’re about to head out in two hours!”

“Good morning to you too, Kuro.”

“You stayed up playing games on your PSP again, didn’t you?” Kenma didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Kuroo sighed, “I told you to rest…”

“Stop nagging me, mom.”

“Kenma.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kenma just waved him off, scowling, “I’m going to get my stuff.” He shut his door in Kuroo’s face and dragged his feet to his trunk, pulling on his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and his jeans, along with a pair of boots - Akaashi’s suggestion. He then went to check on his official Camp Half-Blood questing backpack, as Lev happily introduced it. 

Kuroo sighed, “Let’s meet in the dining pavilion. We’re having breakfast before leaving!” He called out from outside his door.

He double-checked the stuff in his bag and mentally went through a list: charging cables, a portable charger, one portable  _ solar _ charger (courtesy of the Hephaestus cabin), his PSP, clothes, a ziplock of ambrosia squares (not for snacking - for healing purposes!), his folding electric spear, a bottle of water and a pouch of golden drachmas for the road.

He didn’t know how in Tartarus they’re going to buy hamburgers with ancient Greek currency, but he shrugged it off. They’ll have to make do.

“You ready?” Kuroo asked upon his arrival to the table. Akaashi looked up from his plate of bacon and eggs and Bokuto watched Kenma sit, munching on a mouthful of eggs. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Kenma answered. “Where are we even heading to?”

Akaashi wiped his mouth with a napkin and cleared his throat, “About that. We still haven’t gotten to talk to Chiron yet, remember?”

“Yeah, about the vest.”

Kuroo took a bite of his toast and munched, “What, you think Chiron knows about it?”

Shrugging, Akaashi sipped on his juice, “I can’t think of anybody else who would know about this. Let’s hope he does.”

Bokuto swallowed his bite of food and asked, “It’s strange though. What’s with this vest?”

“Does it give you some kind of power-up?” Kenma joked dryly. Bokuto gasped, “That would be so awesome if it did!”

They were right to come to Chiron about it.

The centaur dug around his desk and placed a big file organizer on his desk and the demigods peered at it curiously. Chiron opened it and placed its contents carefully on the desk, spreading it across the surface.

He picked up one paper and placed it in front of the demigods, “What I think the vest is this: The Holy Vest of Ares.”

Kenma stared down at the picture of a gold-plated Greek vest. It looked like any piece of armor out there, what could possibly be so special about this? Chiron cleared his throat, catching the attention of the demigods, “This vest was worn by Ares in the Trojan War and it kept him near impossible to defeat. It’s said to give tremendous power to its wearer.”

Kenma raised a brow at that. Like being the god of war himself wasn’t enough… He even had something like this?

“This…” Bokuto traced the picture in disbelief, “I’ve seen this somewhere.”

“What?” Akaashi stared at Bokuto in shock, “You know where it is, Bokuto-san?”

“I think so…” Bokuto nodded hesitantly, “The last time I saw it was at my uncle’s place.”

“Your uncle?” Kuroo cocked his head in confusion, “Why would he have an ancient vest?”

Bokuto shook his head, “I’m not sure myself. But, my family is kind of… it’s complicated. I don’t know how we’re going to get close to it without getting kicked out.”

“What do you mean?” Kenma frowned, “Can’t you just ask your uncle to let you see it?”

“He hates me,” Bokuto bit his lip, “He always has.”

Silence enveloped the room and Kenma instantly felt bad for asking. By the look on Bokuto’s face, there was something bigger than his situation with his uncle. It wasn’t the time to talk about family problems, though.

Kenma sighed, “So, where’s his house?”

“Huh?” Bokuto blinked, “In Fairbanks.”

“Alaska?” Akaashi grimaced. “That’s far.”

“It’s better that way. The farther I am from that place, the better,” Bokuto said, his tone icy.

Yep. Definitely a touchy subject. Kenma turned to Chiron, “Is there any safe way to get to Fairbanks?”

Chiron cupped his chin and thought out loud, “Well, if I were you, now that the weather is unstable, I wouldn’t want to go on a plane.”

Akaashi nodded, “It’s best we avoid air travel. Less opportunity to get shot down from the sky too.”

“S-Shot down from the sky?” Bokuto stuttered. Akaashi shrugged, “I know you’re Zeus’s son, but let’s be safe.”

“My dad shoots people out of the sky?”

“Then, what?” Kuroo added, “By water?”

“By the time we get to Fairbanks, the world would have already ended,” Akaashi answered. Kenma frowned, “Then what do we do? We can’t exactly drive all the way there! We don’t have licenses.”

“Nor can we drive,” Kuroo added, side-eyeing Kenma, “Again, Kenma. Mario Kart does not make you a driver.”

“Oh shut up. You’re just a sore loser.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened, “I think I have an idea.” Bokuto, Kenma and Kuroo turned to each other in confusion. Were they really going to be okay?

* * *

Kenma sat squished between Bokuto and Kuroo in the backseat, already regretting his life choices. Akaashi stared out the window, taking in the scenery outside as Argus drove them out of camp.

Why couldn’t he have gotten the window seat?

Bokuto whispered, “Hey, does Argus ever talk?”

Kenma shrugged, “Never heard him speak before.” Kuroo nudged Kenma and joined in on their chat, “Do you really think he has a hundred eyes?”

“Why couldn’t he?” Kuroo shrugged, “I mean, I counted what I could see. So far, I saw eighty-six!”

“Why did you count them?” Kenma wondered why he was friends with this guy. “Why is this so important right now?”

“I was just curious!”

Bokuto took a peek at the giant and hummed, “I could see him having a hundred eyes.”

“Yeah, because he literally has eyes on each one of us right now. How can he not have a hundred eyes?” Kenma just wanted this conversation to die. His head hurts.

The car stopped just a few miles away from camp and Akaashi opened the car door, stepping out. Argus helped the demigods take their bags out of the car trunk and Akaashi nodded at him, “Thanks, Argus!”

Argus only nodded at them and got in the car, driving back to camp. Kenma stared at the bow and quiver of arrows Kuroo had hanging behind him, "Are you really going to walk around a crowded city like New York with a bow and a bunch of arrows like that?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't you already have a sword?" Kuroo shrugged, "It's better to know how to use other weapons. Widening your horizons, y'know?"

Bokuto scratched his head, “So, how are we doing this?” Akaashi rummaged in his backpack, “Wait. Let me take my map out.”

Kenma hardly thought a map would help them now. What they needed was _transportation_. Akaashi spread open the map and pointed to their location, “So, this is essentially where we are right now.”

Kuroo nodded, “So, we’re a few kilometers away from New York.”

“Yeah,” Akaashi pointed to their destination, which was the opposite of where they were, “And  _ this _ is where we need to go.”

Bokuto sighed, “That’s really far. There really is a reason for skipping out on family reunions.” Kenma doubted that was his reason for not going, but it wasn’t his place to say anything.

Akaashi returned the gesture with his own sigh, “I know. But, I think I have a plan?”

“Is this a reliable plan?” Kenma asked, slightly nervous. Akaashi nodded, “Trust me.”

They decided to stop for a sub for lunch when they finally got to New York after hitching a ride with a nice family of three. Akaashi had wanted to pay them for the ride, but took one look at their money and sighed. _Probably because it wasn’t even American money_ , Kenma thought wryly.

The family waved their concerns off and wished them safety. They waved them goodbye and almost instantaneously, Bokuto’s stomach grumbled loudly. He grinned sheepishly, “Ha… Sorry, I’m feeling kinda hungry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Akaashi shook his head, “I feel the same way. Let’s go have lunch for now.”

As soon as they arrived at the sandwich shop, Kenma sat on a seat in relief, “Finally, I get to rest my legs…”

“You did nothing but sit during the ride, though,” Kuroo teased, “It’s not like we walked that far.”

“It was far enough.”

Akaashi distributed their food and sat down, “Okay, so I know how to get to Fairbanks, but this could get pretty ugly.”

“What?”

“How?” Kuroo asked between bites. Bokuto listened attentively as he munched on his food.

“It’s better to show you after all,” Akaashi finished. He wiped his mouth clean and stood, “I’ll get us some water, then we can go after you guys eat.”

“What do you need the drachmas for?” Kenma didn’t even know how they paid for their food with it. Akaashi only said, “Trust me.”

He tossed the golden drachma into the street and it sank through the ground. Kenma watched wide-eyed as Akaashi yelled, " _ Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" _

Kuroo and Bokuto stood, slack jawed in shock as a taxi that looked as if it were made out of smoke came into view and rose from the ground. Akaashi smiled, looking almost triumphant, “It worked.”

He peered into the nearest car window and said, “Can you take us to Fairbanks, Alaska?”

“Fairbanks, dearie?” Kenma did a double-take. This woman had no eye, nor any of her teeth. “Why would young kids like you go somewhere so far away?”

Akaashi only smiled, “It’s complicated.” She looked like she immediately understood.

“Well, climb on board, dears!” The second woman in the middle of the seat said, “Let’s get you to where you need to go! But, this will cost you extra. We’re leaving New York, you see.”

“We’ll pay extra,” Akaashi promised. The women looked like they were pleased with the arrangement and Akaashi pushed his three companions to climb inside the car. Kenma didn’t know if this was a good idea anymore.

At least he sat next to Akaashi this time. 

Kenma whispered, “Are you sure this is safe?” Akaashi gave him a reassuring nod, “I think so. Despite what they look like, the Gray Sisters are actually very wise.” He didn’t know if that sounded reassuring enough.

“Gray Sisters?” Now that he mentioned it, Kenma’s read about them. They were the three daughters of minor sea gods who had an encounter with the demigod Perseus. He couldn’t remember what had occurred between them, though.

The one who was driving, Wasp as she introduced herself, stepped on the gas hard and the car lurched forward fast. Kenma held onto the seat in front of him, terrified out of his mind. From what he saw on the rearview mirror, Wasp didn’t even have any  _ eyes _ . Bokuto looked like he was enjoying it though. “This is like a rollercoaster ride!”

Kuroo looked like he was about to puke.

Tempest, the sister sitting next to Wasp, yelled out directions. Anger, the last sister, had their one tooth and was screaming for her turn with the eye. Wasp did not like this. “Excuse me? You had it last time! It’s my turn with the eye!”

“You had the tooth yesterday!”

“You have it now!”

“I had to make sure if the drachma was real!”

Tempest interjected, shouting, “Stoplight!”

Wasp immediately stepped on the brake and Kenma almost got thrown off his seat if it weren’t for Akaashi’s grip on his arm. 

“Akaashi, what is this?” Kenma hissed. His life was in these three blind women's hands! ( _W_ _ere they even considered blind if they shared one eye..?_ ) He did not want to die this early on! How ridiculous was it to be a demigod and die in a car crash?

Okay, that definitely wasn’t a good thought.

Akaashi bit his lip, “Well, I heard they only have one eye and tooth, which they share equally between them… It seems that the driver doesn’t have the eye now?”

“ _You think?_ ”

The taxi started going even faster and Kenma held on for dear life, his head leaning against the headrest in front of him as he clenched his eyes shut. His stomach felt funny and his head was throbbing. The only time he felt like this was the one time he rode a rollercoaster with Kuroo last year.

Needless to say, he was certainly not okay.

The three sisters continued bickering as if the car wasn’t on the highway and streaking past other cars at the speed of light. Wasp reached out for the eye with her right hand, “Give me that!”

Tempest threw her head back and screeched, “It’s my turn with it!”

Anger let out a scream and hit Tempest at the back of her head, “It’s my turn!”

The eye popped out of Tempest’s socket and rolled underneath their chair and the three sisters moaned in annoyance. Tempest turned in the direction of Anger, scowling, “Look at what you did, stupid! It happened again!”

“This is because you keep hogging our eye!”

“It’s my turn!”

Kenma opened his eyes a smidge to rub his temples, only to see the sisters’ eye roll down to his feet. He grimaced in disgust. Akaashi saw the eye and his eyes widened, “Kenma! Take the eye!”

“What? No!” There was _no way in Hades_ was he touching that eye!

The women in front yelled in protest, “No! Anything but the eye!”

Akaashi turned to Bokuto, “Bokuto-san!” Nodding, Bokuto took the eye without a second thought and turned it around in his hand, peering at it, “You guys should probably clean your eye.”

Kuroo, suddenly recovering from his motion sickness, followed Bokuto with a quip of his own, “It looks like your eye is also about to turn blind. If I were you, I would be worried. This is your only eye, right?”

“What?” Wasp shrieked, her head craning back to look at the demigods, fury painted on her face, “It will not.”

“Really? I mean, I’m not an eye doctor but I know a healthy eye when I see one…” Kuroo trailed off. Kenma knew that he knew _nothing_ about eye health or anything like that, but it seemed to be working in their favor anyway, considering the twinkle in Akaashi’s eye.

Suddenly, everything made sense.  _ So that’s what you’re planning?  _ Kenma smirked internally.

Kenma hummed, “If only we can have something in return…”

“What are you saying, you scrawny demigod?” Anger asked, furious, “Are you blackmailing us? _The Gray Sisters?_ ”

“I mean, what’s so great about you guys?” Kenma shrugged, “All I see are arguing old hags.”

“ _Old-_ ” Tempest murmured under her breath, “ _-hags?_ ” Wasp finished, a bite present in the tone of her voice.

“Are you really as wise as the people say?” Akaashi added for good measure, blinking innocently.

“We are wise!” Wasp argued, “We’ve lived through generations and generations! We’ve had heroes alike ride with us! Even the mighty Perseus himself!”

Oh, so that’s how they knew each other.

“So what? That doesn’t prove your wisdom. We want proof,” Kenma averted his eyes and continued, “I’m a son of Athena. I would know who’s wise and who’s not.”

“Proof?” Tempest laughed, “You want proof, boy? I’ll give you proof! What is it that you want to know?”

_ Bingo _ , Kenma thought triumphantly.

Hiding his smirk, Kenma wondered aloud, “Well, for one… who would want something like the Holy Vest of Ares?”

“That damned vest?” Scoffing, Tempest answered, “My, the giant Mimas, of course!”

Anger agreed begrudgingly, “I heard his men looking around for something. It must be that Ares’ vest.”

“What’s so special about it, anyway?” Wasp spat out, “It’s not like they can wear it!”

If it was as magical as Chiron made it to be, the size would hardly matter. It could probably change shapes. 

“Probably for revenge,” Tempest said as-a-matter-of-factly. Kenma figured if she had eyes, she would be rolling them right about now.

Kenma nudged Akaashi and the latter cleared his throat, “And where would this giant named Mimas be?”

“Probably somewhere in Italy,” Tempest shrugged. “Was it somewhere in Naples? Sicily? I didn’t really care so I didn’t bother to remember! Now, I heard from a friend of a friend’s brother, he had captured the god of the west wind, Zephyr!”

“No?” Wasp gasped, “How?”

“ _That_ I don’t know!”

Bokuto turned to Akaashi and whispered, “Is that why..?”

Akaashi grimaced, “Probably. We need to free him immediately, or the entire world’s going to freeze to death.”

“Have we answered your questions, demigods?” Wasp called out, smug, “Are we not the wisest of gods out there?”

“Sure,” Kenma readily agreed. “Thanks.”

The car stopped abruptly and everyone in the backseat lurched forward in surprise, hitting their heads hard. The demigods groaned in pain as Wasp clapped, “We’re here!”

Rubbing his forehead, Bokuto peered out the window, the eye still clasped in his hand, “Uh, guys? I think we need coats.”

Kenma felt his heart drop at the snow-covered streets. It looked deep. At least it wasn’t snowing hard - for _now_ , at least. Akaashi groaned, “We didn’t pack anything to protect us from the cold!”

Kuroo took out a jacket from his backpack and winced, “A jacket’s definitely not going to cut it.”

“Too bad for you,” Tempest said gleefully, “Now, where’s our eye?”

Akaashi gestured for Bokuto to give it back and Bokuto gave her their eye back. Tempest popped it back in her eye socket, sighing in relief. She blinked twice and relaxed into her seat. Anger glowered at her, “After an hour, I’m taking the eye!”

Scoffing, Tempest haughtily replied, “Like I’d let you!”

The three sisters started fighting again, seemingly forgetting their existence.

Kenma begrudgingly unearthed his jacket from his backpack and put it on, following Kuroo’s example. Akaashi and Bokuto did the same and peered outside the windows, “So, how are we going to trudge out this snowstorm?”

“First, how far are we from your uncle’s house, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi directed his gaze to Bokuto who hummed thoughtfully, “About a fifteen-minute walk?”

“A fifteen-minute walk normally or a fifteen-minute walk because of the snow?” Kenma asked, already dreading the answer. When Bokuto gave him a sympathetic look, Kenma just knew it wasn’t going to be an easy fifteen-minute walk from here.

“It’s a fortunate thing I had you guys wear boots, at least,” Akaashi sighed, reaching for the door handle, “Let’s go. We’ll look for coats while we’re at it too.”

* * *

They managed to last five minutes under the flurrying snow, before fully collapsing to their knees in the cold. Akaashi was out cold and Bokuto thankfully caught him just in time. Kenma’s lips felt numb and he huffed, lips trembling, desperately looking for a safe place to keep themselves warm.

The streetlights were all turned off, leaving the streets dark. All the shops they passed by were closed. Kenma could barely hear anything other than the chattering of his teeth. He gritted his teeth closed and pulled on his jacket, wrapping it tighter around his scrawny figure. His limbs suddenly felt wobbly and weak and his eyes were starting to feel heavy.

Just as he was about to fall, he felt an arm wrap around his smaller frame. Kuroo held him up, his teeth chattering and eyes narrowed, “There… I see a shop there…”

Bokuto slung Akaashi’s arm over his shoulders and held onto his waist. He nodded resolutely and the boys hurried to the only shop they saw open - a 24/7 coffee shop.

The bell rang as they opened the shop’s door and a sweet-sounding voice greeted them from inside, “Hello, welcome to-” Her eyes widened in shock after seeing the current state of the children and she called out, “Honey, please get some blankets here! _ASAP!_ ”

The woman rushed from where she stood behind the register and led them to a table farthest from the door. They needed warmth - and  _ fast _ . A man came from the back of the shop carrying thick blankets and he handed them to her. She hurriedly wrapped them up individually in thick blankets. The man from before handed them all mugs of hot cocoa.

Kenma accepted the mug gratefully and muttered his thanks under his breath. Bokuto gingerly wrapped Akaashi in his blanket, still worried. 

“You should probably keep him warm with your body heat for now, “ she suggested, bringing them a larger blanket. “He could get hypothermia and his condition could get worse.” Bokuto accepted the blanket and hurriedly wrapped it around himself and Akaashi, cocooning themselves in the warmth. “I’m sorry our heater’s so weak right now. My husband’s trying to get it fixed for weeks, but because of the weather," she sighed, "Let's just say it's not easy to get anyone to go anywhere.”

The woman, who Kenma thought was the shop owner, sat in a chair on a table next to theirs and asked, “What were you boys doing outside in the blizzard? Where are your parents?”

Kuroo sipped his mug of cocoa and sighed in relief, warmth spreading in his body. He frowned, “I… It’s kind of complicated. Thank you for helping us, ma’am.”

She regarded all of them thoughtfully, “Are you perhaps the escapees?”

“What?” Kuroo blinked. She sighed, cupping her chin, “I heard an orphanage nearby lost kids who escaped. They’ve been missing for days now.”

“Oh, we’re not them, don’t worry!” Bokuto waved her concerns off, “We’re headed to the Bokuto’s!”

“Oh,” her eyes widened, “The Bokuto’s? My!”

“You know them?” Kenma asked and she nodded, “They’re a very influential family around here! Right, honey?”

Her husband smiled, wiping his wet hands on the apron tied around his waist, nodding, “Bokuto Ryotarou especially.” Kenma saw Bokuto immediately stiffen. Must be his uncle, then.

Kuroo squeezed Bokuto’s shoulder, “Is it far from here? The Bokuto house?”

She hummed, turning to her husband, “Well, I think it’s about five minutes by car! Why don’t we bring you there?”

“You would do that?” She beamed, “Of course! I can’t let kids like you go out in that state in a blizzard! In the meantime, rest here and keep warm. Let’s wait for things outside to settle down a bit.”

Bokuto nodded gratefully, “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Oh please,” she laughed, “Call me Elizabeth! I feel old… And this is my husband, Rene!”

Rene smiled and nodded, “You guys should rest first. It’s not wise to be out there in this cold. We’ll give you coats if you need it.”

“If you don’t mind the inconvenience,” Kuroo replied sheepishly, “We’re really sorry to impose on you like this…”

“No, no! It’s okay, dear!” Elizabeth huffed, “Business has been slow lately, you see. It was getting boring! Now, why don’t we move your friend somewhere warmer?” she finished, pointing to the unconscious Akaashi, “We have a couch in the back where he can rest properly.”

Bokuto stood and Kuroo helped him prop Akaashi on his back, the son of Aphrodite not even stirring. “Thank you so much.”

  
  


Their car stopped in front of a large, black gate.

“We’re here,” Rene announced.

Are you sure you kids will be okay out here?” Elizabeth asked, concerned. Akaashi smiled reassuringly and nodded, “We’ll be okay. Thank you, Elizabeth, Rene.”

The couple only smiled at them and reminded them to take care of themselves. They were really good people. Kenma hoped nothing bad would happen to them.

Kenma begrudgingly got out of the comforting warmth of the car and into the stark coldness of the street, looking up at the house in front of him. No, it was more like a  _ mansion _ . It was very obvious that the Bokuto’s weren’t just merely influential. They were also filthy rich.

Kuroo let out a low whistle, “Nice mansion.”

He sneaked a glance at the son of Zeus and saw his clenched fist. The mansion loomed down at them, its pristine white walls almost leering at the demigods. Bokuto swallowed a heavy lump in his throat and breathed out a sigh, nodding, “Let’s go.”

Akaashi must have noticed as he gave him a worried glance and he placed a hand on his shoulder whispering, “Are you okay, Bokuto-san?”

Bokuto only replied with a small smile, “I will be.” He turned back to look at the mansion and announced, “Now let’s think of a way to infiltrate this place.”

“Your uncle’s going to be so mad,” Kuroo grinned and Bokuto only laughed, “Oh, he would be! I can already hear him cursing me.”

Akaashi looked around, his gunmetal eyes carefully analyzing their surroundings, “We should move from here. They probably have tight security around here.”

Bokuto nodded and nudged his head to the right, “Let’s go. I think I know where we can go in unnoticed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> *Camp Half-Blood questing backpack - According to Grover (Percy Jackson’s best friend and satyr), “it comes pre-packed with everything you need!” It has the essentials - like ambrosia squares (for healing purposes), golden drachmas (money for the road)... deodorant.
> 
> *"Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" means "Stop, Chariot of Damnation!"
> 
> *Ambrosia (and nectar) - It’s food for the gods and “medicine” for demigods, lol. They frequently chomp on ambrosia squares to heal their wounds. Usually in Greek mythology, ambrosia gives immortality to whoever eats it. But, demigods can’t eat too much of it, otherwise they’ll get feverish. Mortals can’t consume it either! It tastes like the eaters favorite food.
> 
> *Argus - He is a one-hundred eyed giant who acts as the gods’ security guard, but he works at Camp Half-Blood now, often riding the demigods to their quests.
> 
> *Gray Sisters - The Gray Sisters Wasp (Pemphredo), Tempest (Persis) and Anger (Deino) are a trio of old women who share one tooth and eye. They operate a “taxi firm” that caters to the Greater New York City and its people.
> 
> *Mimas - He is the giant son of Gaea. Made to oppose Hephaestus, Mimas is the “breaker of the plans”. According to him, “nothing goes right” in his presence. His hatred for Ares stemmed from the First Giant War, when he lost against Ares, Hephaestus and Hercules.
> 
> *Zephyr - Zephyr, also known as Zephyros, is the god of west wind and spring.
> 
> i have written this going through the five stages of grief ;; the haikyu!! manga has reached its conclusion and i decided, what better way to celebrate it than by writing fics dedicated to the characters that i love so much?? aha so yeah, i shamelessly finished this chapter just a few hours after 402 dropped lol
> 
> please let me know what your thoughts are so far in the comments! i enjoy reading everyone's comments so much T_T  
> thank you for reading!!


	4. a hearth to call home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first chapter i'm publishing un-beta'd! ~aha we die like men~  
> (still thanks to vityasgirl for helping me figure out a ton of stuff ;; ily)
> 
> this is also shorter compared to the other chapters, i'm sorry but i had to cut it short ;;  
> i still hope you guys enjoy!!

**CHAPTER 4.**

Bokuto made it sound so easy. It was _far_ from it. Way too far.

They had to climb up the wall surrounding the back of the mansion and go through the backdoor. But in order to do that…

Akaashi frowned, “There are cameras everywhere, Bokuto-san.”

“There must be something really valuable in there right now,” Bokuto mused, “They used to lack security around here. What could be so important in there?”

“Who cares about that now?” Kenma hissed, “How are we getting in like this?”

Kuroo rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of his bow and a single arrow, “Geez, guys, take it easy. I’ll handle it.” He pushed Kenma back, squinted an eye and took aim. Kenma, along with the other two, stepped back as Kuroo pulled back the bowstring and released.

The arrow reached its target and it rendered the camera useless. Bokuto whistled low, “Dude, nice shot!”

Kuroo grinned and took another arrow from his quiver, “I’m not as good as Hinata or the Apollo kids, but I do know how to handle one of these, at least.”

“That’s very convenient,” Akaashi mused, “I may have to start taking archery seriously.”

Kuroo shrugged, taking aim at another camera by the trees and released his shot, “We can’t exactly slack off on any of our classes.” The arrow successfully wrecked that camera, too. He sighed, arm akimbo, “It’s better to know how to protect yourself with anything instead of sticking with just your sword, you know?”

“Enough weapon talk and more sneaking in!” Kenma huffed, looking up the wall and started rummaging in his backpack, “I have a rope. Can we get that up there, Kuro?” Kuroo took the end of the rope and tied it to one of his arrows. Akaashi frowned, “Will it stick, though? We’re not exactly light.”

Kuroo took aim for the final time, smirking, “Thank the gods for the celestial bronze arrows, then.”

The arrow attached itself to a tree within the walls and wrapped around one of its branches. The demigods heaved out a relieved sigh and Bokuto gave an experimental pull on the rope and nodded, “It looks safe. I’ll go first.”

Akaashi nodded, “Be careful.”

Bokuto proceeded to climb up the wall. Kenma looked around, “If they really didn’t want any intruders, they should have gotten rid of this tree. It’s too convenient.”

Kuroo pushed him to the rope after Akaashi got over the wall, “You go first.” Kenma shrugged and took hold of the rope. He didn’t even know if he could get up - there was a reason why he hated gym class.

At least Kuroo was still down there to hopefully break his fall.

Halfway up the wall, he grunted with effort and despite the cold, he was starting to sweat. His hands were slipping. Before he could inevitably fall to his death, Kenma felt a hand holding onto his shoulder. Bokuto grinned down at him from where he sat on the wall, “Need help?”

Kenma sighed in relief as he felt his feet on the ground again. Kuroo jumped off the wall with a thud, his boots crushing the grass underneath. He winced, “Sorry, Bokuto’s uncle.”

“He has gardeners, don’t worry about it,” Bokuto waved it off and nudged his head to the backdoor, “Let’s go.”

“No cameras around?” Kuroo whispered and Akaashi shook his head, “Not where we can see them, at least.” Kuroo nodded, “Let’s just hope they’re not pointed in the area we’re going to.”

The door creaked open and Bokuto peered in before beckoning them to get in. Kenma followed closely behind Akaashi and was surprised to see mountains of boxes and crates in a room that looked to be closest to the kitchen.

Was this the pantry?

Bokuto looked into one of the boxes and cheered, “Cheetos!”

Kenma wanted to facepalm. What were they here for again? He hissed at the son of Zeus, “What are you doing?”

“Stealing snacks for the road!” Bokuto proceeded to stuff his bag full of snacks. Akaashi stared at the boxes thoughtfully, “It could save us a lot of drachmas.”

“But it could also weigh you down,” Kuroo added, frowning, “Only take a bit, Bo.”

“Got it!”

“Get some Snickers!”

“I think they’re in the other box!”

Kenma forgot that they were still boys who loved eating. He shook his head and strayed from the group. Man, being a demigod really numbs you from head to toe.

He peered in through the kitchen's door frame and whispered, “I think we should probably hurry.” Bokuto gave him a thumbs-up, his bag full. “Let’s go.”

“Where do we need to go again?”

“The third floor!” Bokuto whispered, “If there’s anything my uncle really needs to keep, it’s up there on his floor.”

They carefully made their way through the kitchens and exited through the main dining hall doors. Kenma couldn’t help but gape - the place was huge and ornate. Even the furniture looked antique. He was so scared of accidentally wrecking one of those vases lining what looked to be the mansion’s living room.

Bokuto stopped abruptly, arms spread in warning, “Wait. Hide!”

They immediately went back to the corner from where they came from and hid. Kenma could hear the distant footsteps coming from the other side of the hall. Kuroo held onto the hilt of his sword in caution, “How far are they?”

Bokuto looked keenly through the corner and gave the go signal, “It’s clear.”

The three sighed in relief. They walked silently along the halls, everything looking the same. This was the third floor they’ve been on, and the most elegant.

Akaashi hummed in appreciation, “What a nice collection they have…”

Bokuto abruptly stopped in place, staring up at the wall of oil paintings. Kenma followed his gaze and found a portrait of a beautiful woman, her hair a distinct white-gray, the roots of her hair black. His eyes widened, “Is this..?”

“Hey, who’s there?!”

Akaashi clicked his tongue, “We’ve been found!” Bokuto cursed under his breath, “Go!”

“What?” He took off his coat and carelessly threw it. Akaashi caught it just in the nick of time, “I can handle this.”

“What the hell, man?” Kuroo started pulling his arm, “You can’t even use your sword without injuring yourself!”

“Just trust me!” Bokuto grinned, “Go straight and then make a left when you reach the end of the hall! It should be there!”

Kenma gritted his teeth and pulled Kuroo, “Kuro, let’s go! He can handle himself just fine!”

He gave Bokuto a nod, “He already went against a minotaur. He’s definitely okay with a few dudes.” Bokuto nodded at him, still grinning. 

Kuroo didn’t try to protest anymore, and let himself be pulled along. Akaashi nodded at Bokuto and broke into a run. Kenma was already getting winded and this was just the beginning.

He had a feeling that this was going to be a recurring situation throughout this quest and he was not looking forward to it. Not one bit.

As they ran, they heard the loud racket Bokuto was making and Kenma winced. The vases were definitely not okay.

They came face to face with a large wooden door, its surface intricately-designed. Did everything in this freaking mansion have to be so expensive? Even the door knob looked like it cost more than his life. Kuroo inspected it before taking a hold of it.

He wriggled the door knob and frowned, “It’s locked.” Akaashi bit his lip, “Maybe if we kicked it down?”

“We’re just going to attract more attention,” Kenma answered grimly. As if the racket Bokuto was making a few doors down wasn’t enough… Though he did think of that himself. Kuroo started patting down his coat pockets. Kenma and Akaashi stared as he triumphantly held out a pouch. “What is that?”

Kuroo only grinned and opened the pouch, “Our savior.”

He took out a pair of lockpicks and Kenma’s eyes widened, “You know how to pick locks now?” Kuroo stuck out his tongue, “It’s a Hermes thing.”

Kenma knew the Hermes kids were dangerous, but he didn’t know they were the I-can-pick-your-lock-and-enter-your-room-while-you’re-sleeping kind of dangerous! Now he can’t look at his best friend the same way ever again.

“Once this quest is over, you’re telling me everything you know how to do,” Kenma muttered under his breath and Kuroo laughed. He was going to make him sign an agreement even if it’s the last thing he’ll do.

The son of Hermes made a noise of success as the door finally swung open. Akaashi sighed in relief and pushed the both of them through the door, “Let’s move fast! Who knows how long Bokuto-san can hold up by himself.”

“Right!”

The room was dark. Akaashi groped around for the light switch after Kuroo made sure that all cameras in the room were disposed of. Kenma kept watch by the door and looked around for any remaining cameras, just in case.

Akaashi finally found the switch and pressed it on, sighing. They were met with the sight of a what looked to be a sitting room, complete with its own couch and fireplace. Kenma was mildly tempted to start a fire and rest his feet by the warmth. What’s strange was how bare it was, with the room having nothing of significance inside, aside from the large crate in the middle of the room, wrapped tightly in rope. Kenma guessed that it was what they were looking for.

He took the knife attached to the strap wrapped against his leg and started cutting at the rope.

Kuroo soon followed his lead and Akaashi glanced back at the door, eyes worried, “Maybe I should check up on Bokuto-san..?” Kenma did think the lack of noise outside was worrying. The son of Aphrodite continued, “He might need back-up after all-”

The door slammed open and a limping Bokuto entered, a wide grin in place, “You guys found it!”

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi was immediately by his side, propping him up with an arm on his waist, “What happened to your leg?”

“I’m fine!” He waved it off and Akaashi carefully set him down by Kenma’s side. The son of Athena reached into his bag and handed him the ziplock of ambrosia squares, “You should probably have one of these.”

Bokuto gratefully took one and hummed, “Thanks, Kenma. Sorry it took so long out there…”

“What did you even do?” He shrugged, “Don’t really know myself. Maybe because I’m a son of Zeus, but apparently, I can summon lightning and wind at will.”

“What?” Kenma clicked his tongue, “You’re some kind of superhero now?”

Bokuto shook his head, “Not really.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” The tone in Kuroo’s voice sounded betrayed. 

The crate finally opened and inside, the vest lied innocently. Kenma did not want to be the one to touch it. He did not have a death wish. 

Bokuto laughed, “Sorry, dude. Didn’t mean to keep it a secret.”

The son of Hermes shrugged and reached into the crate. Kenma almost yelled at Kuroo for taking it without a second thought. What if something happened? What if it had some weird curse on it? What would he tell his mother?

“We should probably go and run now,” Kuroo interrupted wryly, hoisting the vest over his shoulder and backpack already hanging behind him, “We could still get caught.”

Bokuto nodded, “We should think of another way out.”

Akaashi looked around the room and ran to the windows, pushing the curtains open. The snowing outside got stronger, but they had no choice. They had to get out, now. 

The son of Aphrodite immediately wrapped Bokuto in his coat and turned to the other two, “We’re going down from here.”

“Wait!” Kuroo ran to the only couch in the room and pushed it against the door before locking. He grinned, “Can’t be too sure.”

Everything happened too fast.

He remembered scaling down the mansion’s third floor window with tied up curtains and seeing Akaashi getting attacked from behind. Kenma purposely loosened his grip on the curtain and slid down as fast as he could. He ignored the slight pain beginning in his palms.

Once on his feet, he grabbed his trusty knife and threw it above his head.

The knife manages to hit its target and the hand clutching onto Akaashi by the scruff of his neck retracted, as the person made a noise of pain. Akaashi made a grab for the knife and took that as his chance to escape and slid down the curtain. Kenma stared at his hand in shock. He threw that thing like it was a freaking ninja star!

_What..?_

Bokuto pulled Kenma by the arm and as soon as Akaashi was down, told him to stand back. The three demigods watched as the son of Zeus summoned lightning. The curtains burst into flames before their eyes.

The grass in their vicinity started to follow suit. “Let’s go!” Kuroo yelled.

“We can’t go back there!” Akaashi argued, “They’ve probably taken the rope down! We need another way!” Bokuto grabbed his hand, “Hold hands!”

“What?” Kenma gave him an incredulous look. This was not the time for fellowship activities or campfire sing-alongs! Bokuto took his hand and urged Kuroo to do the same. Kuroo clutched onto Kenma’s hands and the son of Zeus clenched his eyes closed, yelling, “Whatever you do, don’t let go!”

Kenma watched as his feet floated off the ground. Akaashi’s eyes widened and Kuroo grinned, “We’re flying!”

“They’re getting away! Call the police, now!”

They flew over the high wall and stumbled onto their feet. Kenma fell onto his knees and let go of Bokuto’s hand. The blizzard was steadily getting stronger. They couldn’t turn back now.

Kuroo held onto him and hoisted the vest over his shoulder yelling, “We have to find a place to hide!”

“The only way to escape those creeps is to get out of Fairbanks, now!” Bokuto pulled Akaashi along. 

“We can’t do that right now, dude!” 

In the distance, Kenma saw a bright light. It seemed to be the only place they could take shelter. The son of Athena pulled Kuroo, “There! There’s a light!”

They rushed to the direction of the light. Kenma gritted his chattering teeth and buried his head in the hood of his coat, their boots sinking into piles of snow. As long as they can get away from here, they could escape easily.

The blizzard easily erased their footsteps.

As they got closer, Kenma found his vision blurring steadily. On his left, Kuroo was rubbing his eyes as his steps started getting sluggish. Bokuto grunted with effort, his leg still limping. Akaashi held onto the son of Zeus, trying his best to support his leg.

It only took a minute, and Kenma felt everything fade to black.

* * *

Kenma opened his eyes to his surroundings enveloped by murky darkness.

The son of Athena groaned and held his head in his hands, “What even..?” He slowly got up on his feet, his boots making a slight noise on the ground. He warily looked around. Kuroo, Akaashi and Bokuto were nowhere to be found.

Why? Did they get separated? He didn’t know.

He observed his surroundings as much as his eyes could let him. He could make out a few boulders and nothing else.

Kenma felt a cool breeze brush past his cheek and he pulled his coat tighter against him. He must be in a cave somewhere. It was the only reasonable explanation.

An ominous voice echoed throughout the area and his body involuntarily shivered in response. He listened carefully despite the fear slowly creeping up on him.

“Where is the vest?” The voice boomed and a whimper sounded a few feet away from him, “I-I’m sorry, sir! The kids- they-”

“You let a bunch of demigods best you?” It growled and the man stuttered out a reply, “Mimas, my Lord, I promise to retrieve the vest for you! I will do anything in my power-”

 _Mimas? That Mimas?_ The demigod stayed quiet despite the shock. He wasn’t with the others. Everything didn’t feel right.

This was probably a dream.

“What makes you guarantee that you will succeed? You’re a mere mortal!”

“I will not fail you again, my Lord. Please believe me.” Kenma heard the grave tone in his voice.

“You’ve already failed me once, Bokuto Ryoutarou. I won’t be as merciful next time,” it sneered.

Kenma stared into nothing in shock. _Bokuto… Ryoutarou..? Bokuto’s uncle?_ He was working with Mimas all along?

The tone in the man’s voice - no, _Bokuto’s uncle_ \- confirmed a lot of things. Kenma knew it wasn’t going to get any easier from here on out. “Yes, my Lord,” he replied resolutely.

He needed to wake up.

* * *

Kenma gasped awake, his body covered in a sheen layer of sweat. Sighing, he held onto his forehead and slumped forward, trying to get a hold of himself.

Was that… true? Was Bokuto’s uncle really..?

“You’re awake.”

Kenma sprung into action at the unfamiliar voice, reaching for the knife sheathed in his leg strap, “Who are you?” He met eyes with a mousy young girl, her hair a radiant red and her eyes dark green. She fixed him with a mysterious smile, “Do not fret, Kozume Kenma. Your friends are safe. You are safe.”

_Does she seriously think it’s that easy to relax?_

He swallowed a lump in his throat and refused to let his guard down. No way in Tartarus was he doing that shortly after his dream. She may appear to be a little girl, but he knew there was something more than meets the eye.

She sighed, sitting down by the side of where he lied. That was when he noticed where he was. He was lying on a sleeping bag and a few ways away, a fire was burning, keeping him warm.

“If you do not believe me, see for yourself,” she waved a hand and the flame got brighter, lighting up the entire area. A few steps away was an unconscious Kuroo, his cheek bruised and teeth chattering.

Kenma rushed to him in surprise, “Kuro!”

He brought a hand to his cheek and rubbed the bruise lightly, “What..?”

Kuroo stirred awake, groaning, “Ugh, my body aches. It’s so cold! What, Kenma..?” He hurriedly pulled back his hand, huffing, “What’s wrong with your cheek?”

The son of Hermes raised a hand to his cheek and winced, “Must have been from the fall. What about you? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

Kenma rolled his eyes at him, “I’m fine. Stop worrying.” Kuroo only sighed in relief, “Good.”

“Where are we?” Kenma nudged his head in the girl’s direction, “Don’t know. Ask her.”

Kuroo narrowed his eyes at her and reached for his sword, “Who are you and where are we?”

“Now, now, no need to be on guard like this, Kuroo Tetsurou.” He lowered his sword and frowned, “How do you know my name?”

She shrugged, “Shouldn’t I at least know the names of my nephews?”

“N-Nephews?”

The girl stood on her feet, her chin raised and green eyes burning, “I am Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, the home and family. Nice to meet you, demigods.”

“Where are Bokuto and Akaashi?” Kenma asked gingerly. She nudged her head to the left, and sure enough, lying in their own sleeping bags were both Bokuto and Akaashi.

The goddess walked to them and held out a hand, the flame warming up their area and slowly, Kuroo stopped trembling in his coat. Crouching by Akaashi’s side, she held a hand over his forehead, “This one is particularly weak to the cold, so I had to put him somewhere closer to warmth, but I did not want to scare him in case he woke up.”

Kenma guessed that was reasonable. Bokuto flinched in his sleep and she turned to the two, “You might want to try and pay attention to this one’s leg.”

He helped Kuroo stand up and approached Bokuto, raising his pant leg and grimaced, “This looks bad.” Bokuto greatly understated his injury. It was swollen red and bruised. He could only wonder how much it actually hurt.

“The ambrosia probably worked a little. It looked like it healed a bit,” Kuroo nodded, wincing, “We should probably put it in a splint.”

The goddess watched as the two worked in sync, carefully handling the son of Zeus’ injury. She hummed, “I understand you are all on a quest of your own, but might I ask for a favor of my own?”

“A favor?” Kenma raised a brow, “For what?”

“Kenma,” Kuroo warned him and turned back to the eight-year-old goddess, “What is it, my Lady?”

She shook her head, “I will wait for these two boys to wake first. I insist you rest your bodies in the meantime. It has not been easy for you at all.”

Hestia walked off but not before craning her head back and giving them a soft smile, “Do not worry. You will be safe as long as I am here. Rest well for now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> *Celestial bronze - This is a special type of metal used by Greek gods and their demigod children, and it is deadly to creatures of the magical world. Unlike mortals, demigods can get hurt by it because of their blood. 
> 
> *Demigod abilities - So, demigods have supernatural abilities! For children of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades), they naturally can control the element their fathers control. As a kid of Zeus, Bokuto can fly and summon lightning at will. They can also inherit their godly parents abilities and traits - for one, Apollo kids usually prefer the bow because thier father’s signature weapon is a bow, and they are usually good at archery.
> 
> *Tartarus - This could mean the darkest pit of the Underworld, where monsters who perish go to reform or the “prison guard” of Tartarus itself, the primordial being. In this case, I meant the darkest pit, lmao.
> 
> *Hestia - She is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the home and family and is the oldest daughter of Rhea and Kronos, sister to Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon and Hades. She usually appears to others as a young girl. Her Roman counterpart is Vesta.
> 
> yeesh a heck ton of revelations in one chapter huh lol ;; 
> 
> we're slowly getting to know just how deeply involved bokuto is in everything - guess what will happen next chapter in the comments lmaooo no fr come scream at me in the comments, i love hearing what y'all think so far jskwjs ily all <3


	5. this is weird, but a good weird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am finally risen back from the dead lol  
> i am so sorry this took so long ;; college and writer's block is NOT a good combination to have  
> title taken from the lightning thief's the minotaur/the weirdest dream track!  
> thank u to vityasgirl for the beta as always <3
> 
> hope you enjoy! <3

**CHAPTER 5.**

It was entertaining to watch Bokuto try and wobble around the warehouse with a splinted leg, but he couldn’t help but get distracted by his game. The PSP’s lit up screen stared back at him as he eagerly clicked on the buttons. It’s been a day since Kenma had touched his PSP and he was starting to notice the signs of withdrawal.

Truthfully, seven hours into their quest, his hand was already itching to play, but after  _ potentially _ dying in a car crash and  _ freezing near to death _ in the streets of Alaska, Kenma figured putting it off until now was for the best.

Kuroo clicked his tongue at the stubborn son of Zeus and scowled, “Dude! Give it a rest!”

“I need to train myself to walk with it!” Bokuto stuck his tongue out and started walking with the splint, wincing every now and then, “See, I can do it!” 

You could hardly call it a walk, but it was something? Kuroo didn’t look amused.

“Next thing you know, you’re under some monster and we can’t save you,” Kenma deadpanned, clicking away on his PSP. “Being stubborn isn’t going to help us.”

“Akaashi would be so disappointed,” Kuroo added, appealing to his friend’s obvious attraction to the son of Aphrodite.

Pouting, Bokuto flopped back on his sleeping bag and huffed, “Fine!” He looked to the side, checking up on the still sleeping Akaashi and spotted his bag. He pulled out a bag of chips, ripped it open and shoved a few in his mouth. Kenma doubted the snacks would last them the entire quest at this rate.

Bokuto held up a Snicker bar, “You guys want some?” Kenma shrugged and he threw them each a Snicker bar. He definitely needed some sugar if he wanted to beat this level.

“How long have we been here?” Bokuto asked between bites. Kuroo shrugged, “Honestly? I have no idea.”

Consulting his PSP, Kenma answered, “We’ve been here for… five hours.”

“We slept for that long?” The son of Hermes stood in a hurry, clicking his tongue, “We don’t have time to dawdle like this!”

A voice resounded around the room, “You should at least wait for your companion to wake up.”

The three demigods looked up to see the same mousy-looking girl, coming in from outside. She was wrapped in a fur coat larger than her frame, and it did its job of protecting her from the blizzard outside. Well, if she was the goddess of the hearth, Kenma doubted she needed that fur coat anyway.

Hestia snapped her fingers and a wooden chair appeared out of thin air. She sat down and rested an elbow on the armrest, leaning her head against her open palm, “They’re still out there looking for you all.”

“‘They?’”

“The police,” she stated casually, as if they were just having a nice, small conversation about the weather.

Kuroo choked on his snicker bar, “P-Police?”

“Coincidentally, a bunch of kids your age escaped from an orphanage nearby,” she commented, “Of course, that’s just the cover story. You might want to be extra cautious from now on.”

So, they were on the move already. Kenma bit his lip and paused his game, “He’s looking for us, isn’t he?”

Hestia looked impressed as she nodded, “He is.”

“Who is?” Bokuto quirked a brow.

“Your uncle,” Kenma rubbed his nape wryly, “Actually, I wanted to tell you guys something…”

“What is it?” Kuroo sat on his hunches, staring at him in interest. Bokuto did the same, still engrossed in polishing off his bag of chips.

“I-” Loud rustling broke his train of thought and they heard groaning just a few steps away. Akaashi sat up on his sleeping bag, eyes squinted, “What..? Where are we?”

“Akaashi!” Bokuto rushed to him, abandoning his chips and worriedly holding the son of Aphrodite up, “Are you okay? Do you need more blankets?”

Kenma spied his leg. He must’ve forgotten all about the pain because of Akaashi. Love did weird things to people, apparently. He nudged Kuroo and pointed to the two, shooting him a knowing look.

Kuroo gagged jokingly in reply. Kenma cracked a smile.

“What happened..?” The son of Aphrodite rubbed his eyes, removing the crusts from the corner of his eye. Bokuto handed him tissues and a bottle of water to drink. Kenma felt bad that he had to drop this on Akaashi just after he woke up, but they didn’t have enough time.

“I had a dream,” he blurted out. Kuroo blinked at him, “Was it good?”

He wanted to say it was, but... it was extremely bad, and he knew it spelled trouble for them. He halted the onslaught of anxious thoughts and sighed, “It was pretty bad.”

“How bad?” Bokuto piped in.

“For one, your uncle is working against us,” Kenma answered, tone grave, “And he is definitely not going to let us go the next time he catches wind of us.”

“What?” Akaashi’s eyes widened, “Bokuto-san’s-?”

Kenma filled them in as best as he could, down to every detail he could recall. After his story, Bokuto looked grim. “He  _ was _ always against me. So that’s why he…”

The son of Athena nodded, “Probably why he had that thing in the first place,” he ended, nudging his head in the vest’s direction.

Akaashi sat cross-legged now, a hand on his chin, “That would explain that, but why him?”

“What do you mean?” 

Akaashi shook his head, “I mean, it doesn’t make sense, does it? Isn’t your uncle a normal person?”

“He is,” Bokuto frowned, “That’s what I think at least. I mean, my mom was normal.”

Kuroo grunted in frustration, “Is that really important right now? We don’t even know where to go from here!”

“I do.” The demigods turned to the sole reason they were safe. Despite her appearance and her small stature, the goddess managed to look like she was looking down on all of them, like any immortal being would. Hestia smiled, “You must save the world, of course.”

Bokuto let out a confused hum, “Save the world?”

“Are you ready to hear me out, demigods?” Hestia stood from her seat and stood by the flame. She held out a hand and the flame grew larger, but it only lasted for a few minutes before collapsing into its previous size.

Akaashi’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him, “Are you..?”

She turned back to all of them, a serious look painted across her petite face with the flames highlighting the few freckles scattered across her juvenile features. “I am gradually getting weaker as the days pass by. If this unusual winter continues to devour countries all over the world, sooner or later, even I’ll-”

“Zephyr,” Kenma breathed, “We need to save him, don’t we?”

“That’s one of it, yes,” she nodded and a mysterious smile settled on her lips, “Will you save the world and the gods, demigods?”

“So, how are we doing this again?” Kenma grunted, pulling on his boots and retying its strings, “Not only do we have to hide from monsters, we also have the police tailing us.” As if the monsters and giants weren’t enough, he thought to himself, grimacing.

“I can get you to as far as Paris,” Hestia offered, “I asked a favor. It is the least I can do.”

“I’m sorry, but did you just say Paris?” Kuroo stared at her in disbelief.

“Paris?” Bokuto jumped from where he sat, beaming, “Yeah! Roadtrip!”

“Dude, in case you forgot, we’re in freaking America!”

Bokuto deflated, “So, no roadtrip..?” Kenma shook his head and looked over his shoulder to check up on Kuroo, the son of Hermes preoccupied with securing the vest for travel. “You sure you can carry that around all by yourself?” Kuroo shot him an amused look, “What, if I say I can’t, will you help me?”

“No.” He shot back, prompting Kuroo to roll his eyes. He went back to his preparation. Kenma didn’t want to say, but he would have helped him if he just asked… but he also didn’t like getting teased, so he was going to just stay quiet.

Let him suffer a little.

Akaashi inquired of the goddess, “How will we get there?”

Hestia stood from her seat and waved a hand, before snapping her fingers. There was a big surge of wind and a bright light enveloped them whole. Kenma closed his eyes tight, blocking out the intensity of the light and slowly, it dissipated, leaving only surging gusts of wind in its wake.

Kuroo nudged him with his elbow and muttered, “You can open your eyes now.”

Kenma carefully opened an eye before gaping in wide-eye amazement. They stood in front of some kind of portal, its edges looking as if it were made of flames. This was like one of his video games!

Personally, he was scared of getting burnt into a crisp (the flames didn’t look safe - not one bit), but he shouldn’t worry about something like that right now. Not when Bokuto almost shoved himself headfirst into it.

“Bokuto-san!”

Akaashi pulled him back hurriedly, a scolding already on the tip of his tongue. Hestia walked to the portal and stood in front of it, facing the group of demigods. Smiling, she hid her struggle well. But Kenma knew. In that moment, she was barely holding onto her last vestiges of power.

“I am counting on all of you now, demigods. Save Zephyr, bring warmth back to this world and free us all from this neverending winter.”

She stepped away from the portal and outstretched a hand, “May Tyche be on your side.”

* * *

Kenma landed on something solid with a pained huff and immediately felt like throwing up. His eyes were clenched tight and yet, he could still vividly see the rush of colors and the feeling of free-falling didn’t leave him.

Kuroo grumbled, “My body hurts. I feel so dizzy I’m going to puke…”

Bokuto grunted out, lying on his back and rubbing his head, “Are we in Paris yet?”

Akaashi held a hand against his head, groaned, “I think…it worked.” 

Kenma opened his eyes reluctantly and his head pounded in pain. He looked down, averting his eyes from the bright sunlight beaming down at them and was met with dark eyes staring into his own in shock.

Kuroo stared at him, breathless. Why… was he looking at Kenma like that?

That’s when he noticed their position. Straddling him by the hips, Kenma was looming over his supine figure on the ground, his hair making a curtain, blocking the sun from lighting up the expression on his best friend’s face.

But their proximity was enough. Kenma could see everything.

And whatever it was, it made his heart restless.

Kenma hurriedly got up on his feet, clearing his throat and muttered, “Sorry.”

He ignored the sharp sting on his forehead and instead, looked around him. He was met with a few curious gazes and he bowed his head low, “We’ve got to go.”

“What?”

Kenma shot Kuroo an urgent look and repeated firmly, “We’ve got to go.”

The son of Hermes looked around himself in confusion and immediately, the pain felt miniscule compared to the curiosity in a few directed gazes at them. He got up from where he laid on the ground and assisted Bokuto who insisted on staying, lying down on the pavement, “Get up. We need to go, now.”

Kuroo hauled the vest over his shoulder and a whining, wobbly Bokuto away as Akaashi helped the son of Zeus remove the dirt from his clothes. Kenma followed behind them closely, keeping his head down low to avoid people from seeing his face.

Leaving the crowded marketplace, Kuroo relaxed and heaved out a sigh, stopping his tracks. “Where are we going?” He called out behind him, Kenma raising a brow at him, “Why me?”

“Didn’t your dream at least clue you in..?” He blanched in reply, “I said what I saw. That’s it.”

“Well, if Hestia brought us here, there must be something we need to do here?” Akaashi looked around before taking Bokuto by the arm and addressing the two, “Let’s go find a place to eat. We shouldn’t stay out here too long in the open.”

Akaashi approached a fruit stand and talked to the woman. The three of them watched in amazement as he spoke in fluent French and asked for directions. The woman behind the stand pointed to the left and replied in rapid French, Akaashi nodding in understanding.

“ _ Merci beaucoup _ ,” he smiled. She bid them goodbye as they left for the direction she pointed them to. Bokuto blinked, “Akaashi, you speak French?”

He shrugged, “My mom  _ is _ the goddess of love. All children of Aphrodite know how to speak in French. It’s the language of  _ love _ , after all.”

“Wow.”

Kenma sighed as Bokuto looked around them, still in awe. For someone who came from a wealthy family, he seemed to have no experience with travelling around the world. Well, it wasn’t like he had the best childhood. 

Akaashi led them to a humble family restaurant and opened the door, the bell signaling their arrival. A waiter led them to a table for four close to the window. Kenma pulled his PSP out and breathed out in contentment, his legs finally getting to rest. Kuroo frowned at him, “You should rest your head, Kenma. You look pale.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

Sighing, Kenma waved his concerns off. “I’ll be fine. I just need to defeat this boss.”

Kuroo snatched the PSP from his hands and hid it in his bag, a serious look set on his face, “Rest. Eat properly. We’ll be on the road a lot - who knows when we’ll have a proper meal again.”

“Are you my mom?”

“No, but I do care about you.” Kenma didn’t know what to say to that and opted to just pick up the menu, grumbling as he tried picking his food. He ignored the steady thumping of his heart. It wouldn’t be good to think of anything like this right now.

Lunch in Paris wasn’t too bad, actually.

The food was good, the scenery was okay, but it wasn’t that great either. For him, at least. He could see why people would like it here, though. But he wasn’t really the tourist type, so that must be why he couldn’t get into any of this.

Bokuto had roped them into checking out the tourist places around. Kenma didn’t really care, but was it really the time to play tourist? The world was going to end, after all.

Bokuto argued, “Well, if the world’s going to end anyway, why not enjoy the last few days we have? Come on, just an hour?”

Okay, he had a point.

Akaashi tried convincing him otherwise, but failed miserably after Bokuto fixed him with a pout. “Akaashiiiii, let’s go see the Eiffel Tower, okay?”

He was weak, and Kenma almost laughed at how red he had gotten. Guess they were going on a date.

Kuroo and Kenma watched as Bokuto looped arms with Akaashi’s and excitedly pulled him along to the direction of the famous tower. Even in the distance, he could see the son of Aphrodite’s smile widen.

“You know,” Kuroo started, “I’m feeling sick being around those two lovebirds dancing around each other. Let’s go find some other place and hang out?”

So, it wasn’t just him. Well, it wasn’t like the two acted subtle about it. Apparently, the word ‘subtle’ wasn’t even in any of their vocabularies. Plus, it has been a while since it’s just been them two, times that Kenma, despite acting all nonchalant and indifferent, really treasured. 

He shrugged, “Sure.”

The son of Hermes took him by the arm and started walking off to a nearby souvenir shop, its interior overflowing with people and little knick-knacks. Kenma begrudgingly followed suit, hand already about to pull his PSP out, until…

Kuroo saw what he was about to do and snatched the console from him, tutting cheekily, “Uh-uh, we’re on a tour, Kenma! Enjoy the view, yeah?”

View? What view? They were going to a souvenir shop!

He grumbled blankly, “Kuro.”

“Yes?” Kuroo playfully answered back.

He rolled his eyes at his teasing tone, “Give it back.”

“No.”

Sighing, Kenma replied, “I’m serious.”

But Kuroo was equally adamant. “I’m serious too!” 

Huffing in annoyance, Kenma grumbled under his breath and surrendered, “I swear, if you weren’t my friend…”

Grinning, Kuroo looped an arm around his neck and pulled him inside the shop, “Let’s go!”

He didn’t know what they were doing in a souvenir shop. They were in the middle of a quest to save the world - not a tour.

They didn’t even have  _ normal money _ with them. What in Zeus’ name can you buy with ancient Greek money? Kenma was just scared they’d get mugged for holding onto things that looked like they belonged in a museum somewhere.

It was a mystery how Akaashi managed to pay for everything with it, to be quite honest.

Kuroo held up a silly bobblehead from one of the nearby shelves and shook it in Kenma’s face, “Look, this kinda looks like Bokuto!” The son of Athena cracked a smile.

The bobble-head did hold a slight resemblance to the energetic son of Zeus, its eyebrows thick and protruding upwards. Kuroo stared at a shelf full of snow globes. Shaking his head, Kenma nudged his head in the direction of the exit, “I’ll go check another shop out.”

“Wha-? Hey, wait up! I’m coming with!” Soon enough, Kuroo was matching his pace and with all the ease of an old friend, took his arm and laced it with his.

The blonde raised a brow in question and Kuroo shrugged, “You kept leaving me behind! This way, you’re stuck with me, buck-o.”

“Won’t you get even more inconvenienced?” He asked, pointedly looking at the well-hidden vest he had been lugging around with his shoulder. Kuroo waved him off, “I’ll be fine!”

They chatted like that until Kenma found a shop that piqued his interest. Kuroo glanced at him and without second thought, marched on to the shop, pace enthusiastic.

Kenma grazed a bookshelf, his eyes looking over the books available. “You going to buy anything?” Kuroo asked, watching him.

“You know I can’t read any of this without getting a headache.”

Shrugging, Kuroo unearthed a random book from the shelf, lazily flipping through its contents, “I don’t know… just thought you’d want one.”

“You’ve always liked reading,” he added absentmindedly. “It’s all you ever did, aside from those games of yours, instead of going out and hanging out with me-”

_ I did, but I liked hanging out with you too.  _ He couldn’t say that! No way in Tartarus.

Kenma couldn’t help the flush in his cheeks rise and he turned, his back facing the son of Hermes while he hid his face. “I’m going.”

“Ah-” Kuroo hastily inserted the book back to its proper place, “Wait, Kenma!”

* * *

“Akaashi, look!” Bokuto exclaimed, a wide grin splitting across his lips, “That’s that famous tower I always see in travel magazines!”

Smiling, Akaashi nodded, “Yes, it’s the Eiffel Tower, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto beamed, casting a look around him before his eyes widened in excitement, “Wait here!”

Akaashi watched him go as he ran off to a nearby gelato shop. Maybe the son of Zeus wanted a frozen treat for himself? He wouldn’t object to one himself, honestly.

Quietly, Akaashi observed the people walking to and fro the area. Families enjoying the weather, a group of tourists walking in a pack, taking pictures around them… Akaashi saw a beautiful couple pass by, arms entwined and the apples of their cheeks flushed red. It looked nice to see.

If people could read his mind right now, they would start questioning whether Akaashi was feeling fine, and to be honest, he couldn’t blame them. Akaashi sighed to himself at the thought. Because despite being a son of the goddess of love, Akaashi hasn’t actually shown a bit of interest in it unlike his siblings.

He was well aware that he was pretty…  _ different _ from his siblings. Unlike him, Oikawa changed lovers like he changed clothes. Unlike him, his siblings were rather outspoken and pretty, and just overall interesting people. They were the embodiment of beauty and love - true children of Aphrodite.

Akaashi knew it wasn’t good to be thinking of things like this; it’s why he doesn’t, but… it was weird. He was weird.

What even was he doing here, in Paris, trying to save the world?

Why had he volunteered to go on this quest? What even was he doing? He had nothing to do with this.

He wasn’t a chosen one. He was nobody special. He doesn’t even have any experience to speak of, and yet, he roped Kuroo and Kenma, two unrelated demigods, on a quest that even  _ he _ doesn’t have any relation to.

Was he doing the right thing, going on this quest? Did he  _ prove _ himself even a bit..?

“Akaashi!” He sharply turned to look in the direction of the familiar voice as his train of thought halted to a stop. Bokuto ran up to him with two cones in hand, “I got us gelato!”

He blinked as Bokuto offered him the frozen treat, “O-Oh… thank you, Bokuto-san.” He accepted the cone gratefully.

“You’re welcome!” Bokuto licked his treat and started rambling, “I didn’t really know what flavor you liked, so I just went with their best-seller. If you don’t like it, we can switch..?” He offered.

“Ah, though you probably won’t since I’ve already licked mine,” Bokuto added, laughing sheepishly.

Akaashi stared down at his own cone of gelato, a warm feeling settling in his chest. He smiled to himself before shaking his head, “No, it’s okay. I like this well enough.”

He shot him a smile, “Thank you, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto looked dazed, before bursting into one of his excited chatterings, “I’m glad! Why don’t we go up the tower, Akaashi?” He squinted his eyes and held a hand over his forehead, “The view must look great from up there!”

Ignoring the wild thumping of his heart, Bokuto desperately tried acting normal. What was wrong with him? They were on a tour, not something like… a date, right? This was a tour.  _ Keep that in mind, Koutarou! _

Knowing it wouldn’t be a tour if they didn’t try seeing the scenery from up the Eiffel Tower, Akaashi nodded with a smile, “Okay.”

* * *

“Seriously, Kenma, could you wait for me before running off?” Kuroo complained with a whine.

Before he could enter the bookstore next door, Kenma felt a chill run down his spine. Instinctively, he craned his head back and looked for anything out of the ordinary.

He was met with a bustling street full of tourists and bystanders who were none the wiser. Frowning, Kenma felt dread build up inside him. Something was up, and for demigods, it never spelled anything good.

“You felt that too?” Kuroo whispered and Kenma nodded in reply, “Something’s wrong.”

Suddenly, there was a deafening crash, screams filled the area and people started running toward their direction from the tower. Both of them jumped in shock at the sudden chaos.

Kuroo clenched his fists and muttered, “Akaashi and Bokuto.” Kenma’s eyes widened. He cursed inwardly to himself. 

Panicking, nearby, a kid fell onto his knees crying. Kuroo ran to help him up, alarmed. “Where’s your parents, huh?”

The kid only sniffled, “M-Mama…”

Kuroo was lightly pushed aside as a woman tugged the kid into her arms, crying, “ _ Gabriel! Dieu merci! _ ”

“ _ Mama! _ ” Kuroo got to his feet and left the mother and son alone, turning back to Kenma. His best friend stood next to him, keeping an eye out. He had a feeling that Bokuto and Akaashi were preoccupied.

He just hoped it wasn’t anything too bad.

“I think we need to go look for them!” Kuroo yelled among the chaos and Kenma agreed.

This doesn’t seem like a coincidence.

They were right. Something was definitely wrong.

Arriving at the scene, they were met with the sight of destruction. Kuroo shakily breathed out, “Holy mother of Zeus…”

A part of the famous landmark had fallen, its debris all around the  _ Champ de Mars _ . What once was a populated, busy area looked so… desolated. The tower was making creaky noises and it didn’t sound good.

Was it about to topple over?

Kenma tripped over a few times in his haste and saw a few of the civilians remaining in the area. He approached one cautiously and checked for a pulse. Breathing a sigh of relief, he realized that they were, strangely enough, sound asleep.

He didn’t think it was safe for any of them to remain in the area, but at least they had no idea what’s about to happen.

Kuroo made a horrified noise, “Akaashi?” 

Kenma looked up at the tower, where Akaashi was desperately clinging onto a lattice. Kenma’s eyes widened in shock and he immediately sprung into action, “Did you bring a rope with you?”

Kuroo stared at him before he tore into his bag, looking for the aforementioned item. They ran closer to the tower and Kenma called out to Akaashi, “Akaashi!”

He was too far to see, but Kenma had a good idea what his expression was right now. He took one of Kuroo’s arrows and tied it to the end. Without a second thought, he took Kuroo’s bow and aimed.

Kuroo watched him shoot the arrow. The arrow reached its target and Akaashi made sure it was secure. Kuroo gaped.

“I’m going down!”

Kenma wiped the sweat on his brow and sighed in relief. He turned to Kuroo, a question dying on the tip of his tongue at the sight of the incredulous look on his best friend’s face.

“Y-You can use a bow?” Kuroo stared at him, gobsmacked.

Kenma blinked. He hasn’t used one of these, but how was he able to do it? Maybe it’s one of those  _ I’m-a-demigod-I-can-actually-do-this kind of thing _ ? Or was it an Athena kid type of thing?

“I guess so..?” 

Kuroo shook his head slowly in disbelief, “That was awesome, Kenma.” Then, he grinned cheekily, “Maybe you could be my bodyguard next time.”

Shrugging, Kenma gave him back the arrow, “Thanks.” Maybe it’s the video games..?

“It’s not because of the video games, Kenma. It’s never the video games.”

Grumbling, Kenma replied, “You don’t know that.”

Akaashi landed on his feet with a loud thud and a pant, eyebrows furrowed worriedly, “We need to go!”

“Where’s Bokuto?” Kuroo handed him a bottle of water, which he took gratefully. Akaashi chugged the water down before answering, “He’s alone! They surrounded us and-”

Kenma shook his head, “We’ll talk later! Let’s get to where he is!”

Nodding, Akaashi led them up the tower in a hurry. Kenma ignored the weariness in his knees and trudged on. While they were climbing up the tower, Akaashi filled them in on the details. Bokuto was currently engaged in a battle against a goddess, and judging by the strengthening cold, they were getting closer to the scene of action.

A demigod, going up against a goddess. A mortal against a divine entity. Wasn’t this unfair? How in Tartarus will they ever win against her? 

“How did you end up like that, anyway?” Kuroo asked between huffs.

Kenma, on the other hand, was dying. He expected walking, but going up the Eiffel Tower like this was a different story! Gods, he hated exercise.

“She blasted me with her ice powers.”

“Ice powers?” Kenma huffed, “Who’s this goddess anyway?”

Akaashi fixed him with a look of grimace, “Khione, the goddess of snow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> *Tyche - Tyche is the Greek goddess of chance, luck and fortune. Her Roman counterpart is Fortuna.
> 
> *Khione - The goddess of snow, and daughter to Boreas, the god of north wind and winter. Her Roman counterpart is Chione.
> 
> added a lil bit of bokuaka bc i can lmao  
> tell me what you think is going to happen next chapter in the comments *eyes my outline* bc it is going to be one hell of a trainwreck aha (also comments keep me motivated to write so i would absolutely appreciate anything you want to say ;;)  
> see y'all next chapter! thank you for reading <3


	6. we've got danger on the run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has been moooooonths since i last updated i am so sorry  
> i've been in a rut over this fic lol plus college hasn't been kind to me  
> anw, i still hope you enjoy this chapter!! <3  
> beta'd by my bb vityasgirl ilysm thank u!!
> 
> chapter title from bring on the monsters from the percy jackson and the lightning thief musical!

**CHAPTER 6.**

Bokuto was definitely not in good shape.

Clutching onto his bleeding arm, he kept his gaze trained on the girl ahead of him. Her coffee-brown eyes, despite their warm color, held nothing but icy hostility, and her dark, black hair made a starking contrast to her pure, white skin. The girl’s equally white dress swished beneath her knees as she raised an arm, her hand outstretched towards the son of Zeus, as if preparing to attack.

He could only wish she was as sweet as she appeared to be. He _wished_.

Khione sneered, her delicate features marred with spite. “Son of Zeus, where is it?”

“Where’s what?” Bokuto blinked innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Oh, he knew what she was talking about, but he had little to no intention to admit to that fact.

“You know what I am talking about, you puny mortal,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at him. “If you know what is good for you and your little friends, you best be handing it over.”

Bokuto adjusted his stance, stepping onto his injured leg. He hid his pained grimace and decided to bluff. He couldn’t risk anything right now. Akaashi couldn’t fight against her - he didn’t even know if he was okay! His eyes strayed where Akaashi was thrown off the tower, a piece of the metal floor hanging precariously over the heads of people down below. Was Akaashi even okay? 

He’d heard the boy calling out just a few seconds after being blown off by her snow powers, but it’s been five minutes since then. Bokuto knew Akaashi was competent, but could someone last this long, hanging onto what he guessed was loose scrap of metal? He prayed to all of Olympus he would be fine.

To add to the situation at hand, he could barely run right now. Bokuto could feel his energy starting to deplete. The only saving grace was that Kenma and Kuroo were nowhere to be found. Thank the gods, too. The vest had to be the furthest from here.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, lady,” he replied nonchalantly. “If you want, I can help you look for it, yeah?” There was no way he was going to hand it over without a fight. Even though he knew defeating this goddess was a long shot, even for a kid of Zeus.

Her gaze turned sour, as if sizing him up. “You think you’re being clever, but I assure you: you are in immense trouble right now, demigod.” She paced, her bare feet making light clunking sounds across the metal floor. Khione turned sharply to look into his gaze with a roar, “ _Where is the Holy Vest?_ ”

Their surroundings suddenly dropped in temperature, the cold breeze hitting him hard and Bokuto fought the urge to tremble in the cold. He stood still and met her gaze with a nonchalant shrug, “Look, I really don’t know what you’re saying. By the way, wouldn’t your feet get dirty like that?” He slyly changed the subject, looking down at her feet. The son of Zeus was sure it was littered with dirt from the ground, and he was sure that a goddess like her wouldn't want to be soiled like that.

Khione’s gaze hardened. “Still lying through your teeth, are you? Suit yourself then.” She raised an arm and hurled blocks of ice at him. He sprang into action, rolling away from where he stood. Bokuto scowled at her in shock, “Hey! That was dangerous, lady!”

The goddess ignored him and her lips curled into a malicious smirk. “I wish I were sorry.”

Akaashi hurried them up the flurry of stairs, wrapping the coat Kuroo managed to procure from a nearby sleeping civilian. He tried hard to avert his eyes from the height of the tower, swallowing the lump in his throat. Just earlier, he had been dangling off a lattice metal. He had been so close to dying.

He turned to look at his two companions. _If it hadn’t been for these two, I would have been..._

The air around them had turned icy cold. _It wasn’t this cold earlier_ , he mused. _Then, that must mean..._ “They’re definitely fighting right now,” he muttered gravely.

Kuroo looked on ahead. There were at least four more flights of stairs, and Kenma was getting decidedly tired. His stamina wasn’t that good in the first place. Kuroo knew he shouldn’t have lazed around during P.E. class.

He unconsciously held onto the hilt of his sword, “What do you think should we do?”

Akaashi looked conflicted. “I… don’t know. But we have to do something.” The pit in his stomach was only getting bigger, and Akaashi himself was starting to feel listless.

The son of Athena huffed. “How is he even holding up against her?” The son of Aphrodite wondered about the same thing. Bokuto was already injured. Akaashi worried it was only a matter of time before she…

Suddenly, a crackle sound came from across them and something materialized out of thin air, cutting Akaashi out of his train of thought. Familiar red flames slowly opened into a portal. _A portal!_ Akaashi’s eyes widened. He pushed Kenma and Kuroo out of the way, “Careful!”

Just in the nick of time, they got out of the way as six kids tumbled out of the flaming portal in a messy tangle of limbs, their stuff - no, more like _luggage_ \- making a loud thud, hitting the metal floor.

Kuroo jumped. “What in Tartarus’ name..?”

One of the boys groaned and yelled, “Get off of me, _‘Samu_!”

The other, who was apparently called “ _‘Samu_ ” growled, “I would if I could, ya idiot!” The one on top of the pile, a dark, curly-haired boy immediately got onto his feet with a scowl, fixing the face mask on his face, “Dirty.”

The boy lying under him followed suit, patting down his clothes. “It is dirty indeed.”

“Hey, _Omi-omi_! Help us up!” The boy in the face mask blanched and ignored his plea, opting to look around his surroundings, his eyes landing on their group. The son of Aphrodite held his gaze for a while, trying to gauge who these kids are. If he was right, that portal was…

“The same as the one where we came from earlier,” Kenma finished. Akaashi exchanged a look with the son of Athena and asked, “You think so too after all?”

Kenma shrugged. “I mean, how many goddesses can make flaming portals appear out of nowhere and transport a bunch of kids to Paris?”

“Touché.”

Another boy sat on his haunches and rubbed his bum, “I knew it was fishy. I shouldn’t have agreed with you two.”

“It’s _‘Tsumu_ ’s fault,” the boy under him accusingly said. 

“Hey!”

The last of the bunch - a tall, stocky built boy with cropped white hair and a stoic look on his face - stood up from where he laid and silently held his hands out. The two boys - _identical? They must be twins_ \- held his hand each in their own and pulled themselves up, groaning. He got down on his knees and started gathering all their stuff lying on the floor.

Kenma spied a tiny metal box. The boy saw him staring and immediately shoved it into his jacket’s pocket, averting his eyes away from him. The son of Athena narrowed his eyes at his crouched figure.

Akaashi stared at all of them down, gauging them with a keen eye that could only be the result of years of training under Chiron. He adjusted his posture, readying himself for potential threats and pressed on, “Who are you?”

One of the twins stepped forward - _‘Tsumu_ , he was called - with a raised brow and an equally guarded stance, “Who are _you_?”

Kuroo, who was still holding onto the hilt of his sword, interjected, “We’re… on a mission to save our friend. What about you?”

The boy in a face mask scoffed. “Don’t ask us. We don’t even know why we’re where we are.”

“Where is this, anyway?” _‘Tsumu_ mused loudly. Kenma answered wryly, “Paris.”

He choked. “P-Paris?! You mean _Paris, France_?”

“Is there another Paris we should be aware of?” Kenma replied sarcastically and Kuroo gave him a look. He sighed before begrudgingly clarifying, “Yes. _Paris, France_.”

His twin rolled his eyes. “This is why I told you we shouldn’t have trusted that woman!”

“As if you knew any better!” The other twin barked back, “If we didn’t move, we were going to get caught, dumbass!”

“It’s both of your faults, and I have nothing to do with this,” one of the boys - the one with dark brown hair with middle-parted bangs - nonchalantly chimed in.

 _‘Tsumu_ looked offended. “Are you kidding me, Suna? You agreed to it, too!” _‘Samu_ looked equally baffled at the boy. Suna ignored them, going back to tending to his aching body.

The boy with light gray and black-tipped hair cleared his throat, and all three of the boys straightened up. He directed a blank gaze at them before saying, “We all agreed to do it. Otherwise, we would be back in the orphanage.”

 _Orphanage?_ Kenma blinked.

**_“Coincidentally, a bunch of kids your age escaped from an orphanage nearby,” Elizabeth commented._ **

Then, he realized. _The orphanage!_

“The police were looking for kids who escaped the orphanage,” he started, “Was that you guys?” Akaashi and Kuroo looked at him in dawning realization.

All six of the newcomers turned to look at him in surprise. “How did you know?” _‘Samu_ asked, his tone accusing.

Akaashi shrugged. “We heard something about it here and there.”

“From Paris..?” _‘Tsumu_ trailed off, staring at the three weirdly.

“It’s a long story,” Kuroo waved him off. “We’re actually on the way to save our friend from a rampaging snow goddess.”

_“Snow goddess?”_

Then, Akaashi groaned. “This is getting too long! Bokuto-san’s already in trouble as it is! We have to go!” He then began climbing up the stairs again, pace hurried and flustered. Kenma followed closely behind with a reserved pace of his own, seeming as his legs were already aching from all the walking they’ve been doing lately.

With one foot on a step of the staircase, Kuroo turned back to look at them. “Sorry, we can’t help you guys right now! We have somewhere to be!” He hurried after the two.

“Wait.”

Kuroo blinked and craned his neck back to look at the source of the voice. It was the light gray-haired boy. His companions looked at him weirdly. _‘Tsumu_ looked sheepish, “Uh, Kita-san, what’s wrong..?”

“If I’m not recalling wrong,” the boy - Kita - started thoughtfully, “she brought us here for a reason, right?”

“Yeah,” the twin readily answered, “she wanted to help us escape from the monsters.”

“And the police,” _‘Samu_ added.

“That couldn’t be all,” Kita sighed. “If I’m right about this, we’re supposed to meet up with your group and help.”

“Help?” Suna piped in. “How?”

“I don’t know, but,” he trailed off, “I’m sure we’re here for a reason,” Kita ended firmly.

 _‘Tsumu_ turned to the rest of their group, as if asking for their opinion. The one he called ‘Omi-omi’ only averted his eyes and shrugged, “Kita’s usually right about these things.”

Suna agreed. “I trust Kita-san on this one.”

The sole person in their makeshift group only nodded in agreement, opting not to voice his opinion. _He must be the silent type_ , Kenma mused.

Kuroo’s shoulders relaxed. “So, you’re going to help us?”

 _‘Tsumu_ sighed before shrugging with a grin. “I guess we are. By the way, I’m Miya Atsumu,” he pointed to his twin, “this guy who looks like me is Miya Osamu.”

“Unfortunately,” Osamu added. “If only I was the older twin.”

“Shut up, _‘Samu_.” The two entered their own bubble, squabbling like the children they were. Kenma mused, “Must be tough having a twin.” 

Suna shook his head, looking tired. “It’s exhausting enough just having to deal with the both of them.”

Kita approached them with a hand held out for a shake. “I am Kita Shinsuke,” he introduced, “It is nice to meet you.” He pointed to the last two boys in the group and added, “These are Suna Rintarou and Aone Takanobu.”

Kuroo took his hand and shook it. “It would have been nice to meet you under different… circumstances.” He turned back to the others, “Sorry, we’re really in a hurry. I guess we could have the pleasantries after we save our friend, yeah?”

Kita nodded. “Right. Lead the way.”

They didn’t even have to tell Akaashi twice. He sped up the flight of stairs.

Rushing up the flight of stairs with the rest, Atsumu broke the grim silence. “So, you said it’s a snow goddess or something?”

“Yeah,” Kenma answered, “She blasts her ice powers out of her hand, and she can apparently play with the temperature.”

“Oh, then this is going to be a piece of cake,” he shrugged.

Kuroo blinked, stopping in his tracks. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

Osamu looked at his twin with a grin. “Well, you see…”

* * *

The moment they stepped into the fray, Bokuto looked pretty banged up already. Kenma pulled his knife out, screaming, “Duck!” and threw it in the goddess’ direction. Bokuto ducked just in time, stumbling to his knees.

Khione dodged it expertly, looking amused. “It’s cute how you think that could have stopped me with a measly knife, demigod.”

Kenma shrugged and levelled her with a smirk of his own. “That still got your attention, didn’t it?”

Her amused smile downturned into a frown. “You speak as if you can take me on yourself.”

“I’m not that great,” Kenma waved her off, “But I do think that you’re not invincible.”

“Oh?” her amused tone came back, deciding to play along, she asked, “Why is that?”

He smirked. “Because ice can always be thawed by fire.” Then, he yelled, “Now!”

Aone sprang into action and held out a hand wrapped in leather and metal, large volumes of flames flickering out of his palm and shooting into the direction of the goddess. The snow goddess’ confident smirk faded and shock was evident on her features as she fumbled out of the way, her feet sliding on the metal floor.

Stumbling to her feet, she growled at Kuroo with all the ferocity she could muster, “I see you have the vest with you! Give it to me, now!” Khione roared, “You dare attack me!”

“You started it first,” Bokuto protested weakly, Akaashi holding him up. Khione snapped her attention to him, furious, “Shut up!” Scanning the room, she spat out, “Just you wait - I will turn all you stupid children into ice statues and decorate you in my palace!”

“Like she doesn’t look like one of us,” Osamu muttered under his breath and Suna shot him a warning look.

“You can try,” Atsumu challenged from behind Aone, sticking a tongue out. Kenma deadpanned, “Don’t provoke her.”

“It’s not like she can do anything to us. We have Aone.”

Akaashi rested a hand on his shoulder and nudged his head in Aone’s direction, “It takes up stamina, too.” Now that he looked closely, Atsumu could see the strain on the boy, a thin sheen of sweat already coating his face.

“Whoops,” he muttered, “Sorry…”

Sakusa scoffed. “Stupid.”

Before Atsumu could retort, Khione didn’t waste time and spewed ice out of her lips, the icy tendrils making a thorny patch on the floor, making its way to them at supersonic speed. Kuroo immediately held onto Kenma’s arm, pulling before shouting, “Run!”

The rest of the group ran as Aone strained himself, his hands both held in front of him, spewing flames out of his palms, thawing the approaching flurry of ice as Atsumu pulled something out of his pocket. Kenma recognized it as the same box Aone was carrying and watched Atsumu throw it in Khione’s direction with a yell, “Everyone, run and duck!”

A loud explosion boomed and the floor beneath their feet started rumbling as debris started falling all over around them. Kuroo immediately moved to shield him from the explosion and a large beam fell, conveniently blocking them from the furious goddess’ view and almost trampling Aone and Atsumu in the process. The son of Hermes groaned under the weight of the vest, “Can’t breathe…”

Kenma helped him to his feet with a frown. “I told you I could help you with it.”

“You could barely get up the tower yourself, Kenma.”

They all jumped in surprise when Khione started screaming in anger, her voice bellowing at them from the other side. “Be prepared to say your last words, demigods!”

Kita got to his feet and turned to their makeshift group, his eyebrows furrowed in urgency. “This is our chance to escape.” Sakusa’s gaze immediately turned to the way they came from and grimaced, “The passage to the staircase is blocked.”

All heads snapped at the grating sound of metal breaking. Kenma reached into his pocket and handed Bokuto another ambrosia square. “You’re going to end up finishing our ration for these,” he scolded. “Any more than this, you’re going to have difficulty healing that leg.”

Bokuto accepted it sheepishly, turning to Kenma, then to Aone and Atsumu, as well as the rest of the group. “Sorry, Kenma, everyone.” 

Aone only nodded, scouring for something inside his travelling backpack. Atsumu stood next to him and his twin, gaze still trained in the direction of the goddess, just in case she managed to break through the large beam and debris.

Kenma looked around the area, unconsciously biting his lip. His training with Chiron taught him that it was essential to secure an escape route prior to engaging the enemy, but what happens when that escape route is rendered useless? What then?

 _Think… think, Kozume Kenma!_ He thought desperately.

 _The winds_ , a voice whispered hauntingly. He shot up, his eyes wide in alarm and looked around for the source of the voice. Kuroo, who was next to him, noticed this and frowned, “Kenma?”

He couldn’t hear his best friend. His ears started ringing, hearing nothing but the wispy voice in his head continue, _use the winds._ _Get you and your friends to safety through air._

“Bokuto-san,” he breathed out. Kuroo blinked. “Wait, what?”

Kenma turned to Bokuto, his face grim. “I’m sorry to say this, but can you take us down? Using your flying?”

Akaashi frowned. “All of us?” He scoffed, “He can’t! Not like this-”

Seeing the look on Kenma’s face, Bokuto answered with a nod, “I can try.”

Kenma sighed, “We’re going to need more than an attempt, Bokuto-san. It’s our lives on the line, and I would rather not die, falling to my death,” he rolled his eyes, “that would be so uncool.”

The son of Zeus grinned. “We won’t. I can do it.”

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi protested. He levelled him with a serious look, “I’ll be fine, Akaashi.”

“You say that, yet you managed to injure your leg even further!”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Suna interrupted, “but I don’t think we have another choice, do we?”

They all turned silent, until a large piece of metal flew and crashed, making the tower tremble again, making concerning creaking noises. “I will get you!” Khione screamed. Osamu turned to their group, “So, what will it be?”

Bokuto’s hold on Akaashi tightened as he stretched a hand out, “Everyone, hold hands! We’re flying!”

Immediately, Kenma took hold of Kuroo’s, who held onto Bokuto’s other hand. Kita held his other hand and the rest followed. “Wait!” Atsumu broke out of the other’s hold and took another of the boxes, and what Kenma realized to be a grenade of sorts. He grinned, “Let’s block any other path, shall we?”

He aimed for the closest pathway the goddess could take and rendered it useless, debris ultimately blocking any chances she’d have of following after them. Atsumu took Aone’s hand again and Kuroo turned to Bokuto, “Jump!”

They jumped off the edge of the Eiffel Tower, screaming bloody murder until Bokuto pulled them all up into flying under the warm sunlight.

Beads of sweat collected on Bokuto’s forehead at the straining exhaustion of flying a group as big as theirs down. His grip on Akaashi’s waist tightened ever so slightly, and the son of Aphrodite stole a glance at him. “Are you okay, Bokuto-san?” he asked worriedly. Bokuto only grinned in response. “It’s just…I feel really exhausted right now…”

Kenma did something he was probably going to regret and looked down. Fighting off the urge to vomit, he gauged that they were still about 25 feet away from the ground. That did not spell good news.

Suddenly, they were jerked in mid-air and everyone yelped in shock. Kenma stopped breathing for a while. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this. How in Hades’ did Akaashi manage to survive dangling in mid-air atop the tallest structure in Paris? Bokuto bit his lip. “Everyone... should probably brace for impact…” He didn’t look good at all.

“What?” Sakusa’s eyes were flaming. “What do you mean?”

Just when Bokuto was about to speak, he felt his body turn lighter and his feet floating without much effort. Almost as if…

“We’re floating,” he breathed out. The rest of the group looked down at their feet in confusion. Atsumu held onto Aone’s hand harder, yelping, “What? Are you not making us fly? Are we going to plummet to our deaths?!”

Bokuto shook his head. “I’m not making us fly anymore! I’m not doing anything!”

Kenma looked around them as they were slowly approaching the ground. A soft breeze slowly ascended his body, gently enveloping him. Then, a whisper came. It was the same wispy voice he’d heard. _Good job, child._

Before he noticed, his feet were already planted on the ground. Just as his feet touched the ground, Bokuto collapsed. Akaashi and Kuroo caught him in time.

“Bokuto-san!”

“Bokuto!”

They tried shaking him awake, to no avail. He wasn’t making a sign of gaining consciousness soon, but they needed to get away, and now. Kuroo hoisted the vest properly slung on his shoulder and was about to take Bokuto’s side until he was pushed to the side.

Aone carried Bokuto like it was nothing. Kuroo blinked, “Uh, I can help you-”

Osamu butted in. “Where to next?”

Akaashi took Kuroo by the arm and said, “Follow me. Let’s hurry, before they get here.”

Khione’s blood was boiling. _Bested by a bunch of demigods!_ She shot at the beam in frustration, crumbling it to pieces. 

With her breaths coming in short huffs, she stared at the empty, tore down hall. The goddess picked up a knife, the celestial bronze blade sharp and clear. She stared back at her own furious reflection, muttering under her breath, “So, you insist on meddling in the affairs of the gods and the giants? You will pay for the mistake you’ve committed, demigods…”

The goddess threw the knife aside. “He will definitely make you pay.”

* * *

“For a bunch of… _normal_ guys, you seemed to be unfazed at the aspect of flying off the Eiffel Tower,” Kuroo started. Were they even normal? Kenma decided from the get-go they weren’t any different from them, seeing as they arrived at Paris the same way they did - _these guys carried freaking grenades!_ \- but sure. If that’s what Kuroo labeled as ‘normal’.

They were now on the run, having left the area in a hurry. It was only a matter of time before monsters started swarming the place, so the prime objective for now was to look for appropriate shelter. Akaashi had led the group as far away from the tower as possible.

Not to mention, their rather large group was starting to attract attention. Apparently, a group of ten kids who looked like they came from more than a scuffle was a cause of concern. Kenma didn’t blame them. He’d probably stare at their group too.

Kita shrugged. “We’ve been transported all the way to Paris through a portal and fought a snow goddess. What more could faze us?”

He wondered what would happen to the Eiffel Tower now. It was going to need time to repair. So many tourists will be so disappointed...

They found a relatively homey inn at the outskirts of the city, and after checking in for a group of two, had taken the time to freshen up and tend to wounds that were caused by the little scrimmage with a goddess.

Getting out of the shower in a new Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans, Akaashi rubbed his wet hair down with a towel. “Is Bokuto-san’s leg okay?”

Kuroo finished wrapping his leg in new bandages and grimaced, “I don’t know, honestly. I could barely tend to my own injuries in the first place. It would’ve been great to carry around someone from the Apollo cabin…”

Akaashi sat on the bed by Bokuto’s leg and inspected Kuroo’s work, securing the rest of the bandage. He mused, “It would’ve been nice, yes, but we can’t exactly do that.”

“Shame.” The door to their shared room sounded with a knock, then a head popped in. Atsumu asked, “You guys doing okay here?”

A voice from behind him scoffed, “You act as if you’re older than them.”

“Shut up, ‘Samu.”

Kenma opened the door further and welcomed them in, “What about you guys?”

Osamu walked in after his twin, shrugging, “We’ve been on the run for almost a week now, so we’re definitely doing better. How’s his leg?” he nudged his head in Bokuto’s direction.

Akaashi stood with his limbs akimbo. “He’ll recover in a bit. He just needs the rest. Bokuto-san’s overexerted himself, fighting the goddess on his own and attempting to fly us down that high up.”

“So, what’s our plan now?” Kuroo asked between bites of his sandwich. “Where do we go from here?”

“First,” Akaashi stalked back to where his backpack sat, “I have to contact camp.”

“Camp?” Both twins shot each other questioning glances.

“To get you there.” Akaashi took a drachma out of the small pouch in his backpack, “We’ll call for a satyr. You’ll be safe there.”

“Safe…” Their attention all turned to the sound of the door creeping open. Kita and the rest of their group entered, looking much better than earlier. Aone closed the door behind him and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest, while Suna, Sakusa and Kita opted to stand behind the twins.

Akaashi nodded. “We actually came from Camp Half-Blood, a safe place for kids like us.”

“Like us?” Suna questioned, “What do you mean? What are we?”

Kuroo placed a hand on Akaashi’s shoulders and spoke up. “We’re demigods - children of the gods.”

For a moment, they were worried they would have to deal with the consequences of dropping a bomb as big as their freaking origin, but seeing the look of dawning realization on their faces was a big relief. Kita hummed, “So, that’s why…”

“Why..?”

“We’ve always wondered how in the world Aone can do what he does,” Suna clarified. “Our orphanage almost burned down… but he managed to get out without so much as a scratch.”

“Plus, Kita-san can apparently communicate and control trees and shrubs and stuff,” Atsumu chimed in. “One time, I found him talking to a tree.”

“A tree?”

Kita waved Kuroo off with a ‘ _it’s a long story_ ’. These guys were definitely one of them, then. There’s no doubt.

Akaashi walked to the bathroom and came out with a glass of water. Placing it by the window, he pulled from his pocket a compact mirror and placed it in the glass at a precise angle. Every now and then, he would peer behind him at the bare wall.

“Uh, Akaashi?” Kuroo asked, approaching him from behind. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to make a rainbow,” he answered as-a-matter-of-factly, working on adjusting the mirror.

“For what?” The twins peered at the glass.

Kenma sighed, “For the Iris Message.” Finally, appearing on the bare wall, was a rainbow. It was small, barely covering a substantial part of the wall’s surface, but it was more than enough for a call home. Akaashi threw the golden drachma at it, muttering, "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering."

The rainbow shimmered and a wispy image of Chiron’s familiar face materialized through the Mist, peering at them with surprise in his eyes. “Akaashi?”

“Chiron!” He sounded relieved, “We got through!”

“How are you? Where are you now?”

“We’re in Paris-” seeing the look on Chiron’s face, he decided to save it for later, “It’s a long story, but we need a satyr to come.”

“A satyr?” Chiron’s eyebrow quirked in intrigue, “What’s wrong?”

“Somebody needs to escort a group to camp,” Akaashi answered. “Can you send someone?”

“All of our satyrs are out, but…” he trailed off, “I can send a group to go and fetch them, I think,” Chiron agreed.

“Thank you,” Akaashi breathed out.

“How’s your quest going? Are you safe, at least?” the centaur asked and Akaashi nodded in reply, “Of course. They’re sending monsters after us…”

He shrugged. “I guess it’s a sign we’re doing the right thing.”

“Surely,” Chiron sighed. “You’re doing well, I see. Thank the gods. You must be alert at all times. We shouldn’t be revealing much over this call. Someone may very well be listening in. I will be sending out a group to escort the kids back to camp, rest assured.”

“Thank you, Chiron,” Akaashi nodded and waved his hand through the Mist, dissolving the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> *Iris Message - Since demigods cannot use cellphones to contact their peers, they use Iris Messaging. The service is managed by the goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the gods, Iris.
> 
> *Satyrs - Already mentioned in passing in the other notes, but satyrs are normally tasked to escort demigods to the safety of camp.

**Author's Note:**

> leave me a kudo or a comment if you liked it!! i'm a whore for validation lmao ;;  
> thank you for reading!


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